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Man commits suicide at Swell Season concert

By | Published on Monday 23 August 2010

A man jumped to his death onto the stage at a Swell Season concert last Thursday in an apparent suicide.

The band, formed by frontman of The Frames Glen Hansard and Czech pianist Marketa Irglova, were performing at the Mountain Winery amphitheatre in Saratoga, California. According to witnesses, the man – named on Friday by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office as 32 year old Michael Pickels from San Jose – climbed up onto the roof of the stage as the band were finishing a song. He then ran, jumped and fell around 30 feet to the stage, landing near Hansard.

One witness told SF Weekly: “Glen was joking about his new guitar player, poking fun at one of his songs, when a body shot down from above and slammed downstage left. The guy fell like a dead weight, not flailing, not screaming, just hitting the stage hard and bouncing from the impact. Even Glen didn’t know what it was until he stood over it and realised a man had just launched himself from the top of the stone church-like building at the back of the stage”.

Attempts were made to resuscitate Pickels, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards by a doctor who had been in the audience.

In a statement, the band expressed sadness for the death, but said they would continue their current US tour as planned: “The band, crew and all involved with them are shocked and saddened by the death that occurred at the 19 Aug show. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the deceased, his family and friends. Making and performing music is what the band has always done in good times and in bad. Our hope is that in this communal experience tonight [20 Aug] we can somehow help our own grieving process after what we just witnessed. The show will most certainly be different than any other we have ever played”.

The statement added: “We wish to continue to be sensitive to family and friends of this individual and hope that in performing it is not viewed as a selfish act. We have not come to this decision lightly. We continue to have them at the forefront of our minds and hearts”.



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