Todd Sucherman sued for drumstick toss to audience

Parts of amps, guitars being thrown but not Stix....sticks
 
Wouldn't the venues insurance cover something like this?

Let's see Lori Frederick alleges that:

She lost the benefit of her concert tickets.
She endured emotional anguish.
She suffered loss of enjoyment of life.
She was unable to register for a road race a few weeks after the concert
Her clothing was rendered useless because of the blood.

Thanks for the laugh Lori!

She deserves maybe 1,000 bucks.

Todd could probably settle out of court by just apologizing and taking her out to dinner or something. Just treat her like a princess for an evening (and maybe night?) and she'd probably forget the whole thing. Give her concert tickets and backstage passes any time Styx plays there. Make friends with her.
 
This is on par with the person who sued a fast food restaurant for serving hot coffee.

Both of them are valid.
The paying music fan was bloodied by his negligence.
The coffee maimed the old lady and she was hospitalized for 8 days.

— "She seeks to recover damages including medical expenses and lost income." That's all she's asking for. She doesn't sound evil to me.

How about the guy who lost a testicle when Michael Douglas blasted a golf ball into his groin for being slow off the tee?
 
I think it was Skid Row's drummer that faced damages from throwing a stick into the audience, probably early '80s.

I recall in 1987 that Sandy Gennaro would leave the riser, walk across the front of the stage, and gently toss or hand sticks to fans who could see them coming.

Bermuda
 
Both of them are valid.
The paying music fan was bloodied by his negligence.
The coffee maimed the old lady and she was hospitalized for 8 days.

— "She seeks to recover damages including medical expenses and lost income." That's all she's asking for. She doesn't sound evil to me.

How about the guy who lost a testicle when Michael Douglas blasted a golf ball into his groin for being slow off the tee?

I question the allegation of negligence. It's pretty common for drummers to throw out drumsticks. And, I'm rather surprised a drumstick could cause that much physical damage, anyway. Would it hurt, and maybe cause a nosebleed? Yeah. It could even put your eye out if it struck just right, but that doesn't sound like that's what happened. It sounds to me like a lawyer is exploiting every possible angle to get her a bunch of money, is all.

But then, I am not a fan of our tort system, period.
 
A concert on 28 JUN 2015?!? Seems like an opportunity grab to me, but what do I know.

My niece took her 5 kids shopping to a national chain department store. Her 10 year old "monkey boy" grabbed and hung from a clothes rack while she had her back turned. It broke and the piece he was holding hit his head. He needed a couple of stitches to close the wound.

She related the story to a friend who said she should get a lawyer and sue the store for faulty equipment. Long story short, the store settled with a $4500 check. ?!?

Your brat is monkeying around on a clothes rack, konks his noggin and you get paid?
 
I think it was Skid Row's drummer that faced damages from throwing a stick into the audience, probably early '80s.

I recall in 1987 that Sandy Gennaro would leave the riser, walk across the front of the stage, and gently toss or hand sticks to fans who could see them coming.

Bermuda

I recall Sebastian Bach throwing a glass bottle viciously into a crowd who were pressed up against the barricade at a show in the '80's. It smashed on a girls face causing permanent eye damage and scarring. I don't remember the drummer thing. I have however, been hit in the face with a stick (my own, funny story) and it left a blurry spot in my vision for two weeks. You could poke someone's eye out, literally. I would have thought no one "threw" sticks into an audience anymore. A soft lob a most to reach people further back, or just hand them to those people in front. Too bad for Todd, but yeah, don't do that.
 
Last edited:
Tossing sticks into the audience after a show is a long-standing tradition in R & R. Has anyone ever been sued for this before?

Our stage coach had the following suggestion:

When you're going to throw anything off stage (Sticks, picks, yourself), always throw "to" someone. Make sure that person knows you're about to throw something, and has enough open space to make the catch.

Besides litigation, his reasoning at the time was that fans don't want to get konk'ed in the head by something unseen, and don't like getting stepped on when there's a dense crowd jumping for the same item.

Stuff like this has been litigated since the beginning of the modern music business.
 
Let's see Lori Frederick alleges that:

She lost the benefit of her concert tickets.
She endured emotional anguish.
She suffered loss of enjoyment of life.

She was unable to register for a road race a few weeks after the concert
Her clothing was rendered useless because of the blood.

Jesus, the ones in bold made me chuckle. How hard was this stick thrown??

Like the sucky modern saying/moto goes "Where there's blame there's a claim"

Also remember this one from a couple of years ago, fan sued Rod Stewart over a alleged broken nose caused by a football.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11119759/Rod-Stewart-sued-by-fan-who-claims-he-broke-his-nose-on-a-flying-football.html
 
Guess what? At least we can pretty much say for sure Todd Sucherman isn't going to be throwing drumsticks into the audience anymore
 
I remember my eldest brother throwing a drum stick and breaking it on my head. "Splains" a lot no? No worries revenge was sweet I stepped it up with my choice of retaliatory weaponry a croquet mallet.Alas I defeated the evil dragon. He was like evil as a child (town bully)-set me on fire, tied me to an electric fence, hung me, dug trap holes too deep for my friends and I too escape, etc, etc, etc, etc-grew up to be Dentist-reminds me of Lil Shop of Horrors. I'm not complaining he did it to everyone else too, and even worse, so it wasn't personal-just PSYCHOTIC. He wonders why I never call.
 
It's a very Rock 'N Roll gesture and I'm sure Todd have been doing it for years without giving it much thought. It is however not a safe act and is best avoided. Also considering the US legal environment.
 
I would think this would fall under the coverage of sports fan being responsible for their own safety at a game. When I worked with the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, there are signs posted everywhere that audience members must be paying attention and that the teams are not responsible for what happens should a bat break and fly into the stands, or if a puck cleared the plexiglass barriers and hit a kid (which I've seen happen).

Granted, perhaps a concert audience isn't expecting drumsticks to be flying at them during a show, but I would think if this ever went to court, that's the defense Sucherrman's lawyer would probably take. It makes sense since a concert and a sporting event are almost about the same thing.

But, if she's not asking for much, it could just be cheaper to pay her back for damages.
 
Back
Top