Operators of several clubs around the country, including a Rhode Island nightclub where scores of people died in a fire, said Friday that the band Great White did not tell them ahead of time they would use pyrotechnics in their show.
``At no time, did either owner have prior knowledge that pyrotechnics were going to be used by the band Great White,'' said a statement issued on behalf of the owners of The Station in West Warwick, R.I., where Thursday night's deadly fire occurred. ``No permission was ever requested by the band or its agents to use pyrotechnics at The Station, and no permission was ever given.''
Video footage of the concert captured the ceiling of the club igniting immediately above the pyrotechnic displays on the stage.
Domenic Santana, owner of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., the storied club associated with Bruce Springsteen, said no notice was given when Great White used pyrotechnics for a Valentine's Day show before 260 patrons.
Pyrotechnics are not allowed at the Stone Pony because of its low ceiling.
``It could have been the St. Valentine's Day massacre,'' Santana said.
Jack Russell, Great White's leader, told Fox News that the band's manager had informed The Station that pyrotechnics would be used.
And Paul Woolnough, president of the group's management company, Manic Music Management and Knight Records, denied in a telephone interview that the band had failed to notify venues pyrotechnics were used. He said he did not have specific knowledge about individual shows.
``The tour manager always checks that (pyrotechnics are) able to be used, and that the club authorizes it,'' Woolnough said. ``If there's any issue at all, then it's never used.''
But at the Pinellas Park Expo Center in Florida, where Great White played Feb. 7, the band used pyrotechnics without notice to anyone involved in the concert, said Tim Bryant, a show organizer.
``It was a pretty hard shock to me,'' said Bryan, who added that a permit by local authorities is required. ``Pyro makes for a really good show, and we would have gotten the permit.''
The Rhode Island show, which attracted about 300 patrons, was Great White's 18th show in their Jan. 23-March 8 U.S. tour. Not all of the shows featured pyrotechics.
At the Oxygen Club in Evansville, Ill., where Great White played Feb. 3, owner J.J. Parson said the band asked if they could use small ``flashpots'' when he vetoed a full pyrotechnical display.
``We said we'd prefer they not, and they went along,'' Parson said. ``Everything we'd asked them to do, they'd do. They're really easy to get along with.''
Fire safety officials in Bangor, Maine, were looking into whether pyrotechnics were used at a Great White show Tuesday at Russell's, a club which officials said does not have a permit for such displays.
``The fire marshal's office is now getting indications that pyrotechnics may have been used during the show in Bangor,'' said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the city's department of public safety.
Great White used pyrotechnics briefly without incident at a show in Sioux City, Iowa, on Jan. 27, before a sparse crowd at the Lewis Bowl & Sports Bar, said the owner, Dan Lewis. Lewis said he could not recall whether the band sought permission.
``They did a little thing at the very end. It was very calm. We weren't very full that night. It was no big deal,'' Lewis said.
