I recently started a new series entitled, Music & Mayhem, dealing with joyous music events that have had or were involved with disastrous consequences (link below).
The newest entry in the series was about the notorious Chicago Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942 (link below). After it was published, it was pointed out to me that an event 75 years later, here in Oakland, paralleled that disaster. Unfortunately, it is all too true. The Ghost Ship Fire was a music event that killed dozens of innocent young people enjoying life and an evening of fun.
Oakland, CA
photo by Julianna Brown
It happened a year ago today, on December 2, 2016. It was just blocks from my studio and I watched it as it was happening. The fire broke out in a warehouse, known as Ghost Ship, that had been converted into an artist collective, including dwelling units, in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California. At the time of the fire, the warehouse was hosting a concert featuring artists from the house music record label, 100% Silk.
Ghost Ship warehouse aftermath
photo by Jim Heaphy
A total of 36 people were killed in the fire, the deadliest in the history of Oakland. The victims died of smoke inhalation.
Only one person was seriously injured. The sheriff's office said, "It
appears that people either made it out [safely], or they didn't make it
out." It was the deadliest building fire in the United States since The Station nightclub fire in 2003, the deadliest in California since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the deadliest mass-casualty event in Oakland since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Ghost Ship warehouse aftermath
Of the five musicians scheduled to perform at the concert, headliner Golden Donna and Aja Archuleta were confirmed to have escaped the fire. The other three musicians on the bill were killed; disc jockey Nackt (Johnny Igaz), electro-industrial; performer Joey Casio (Joseph Matlock), 36, a house music artist. He released several singles for the K Records label out of
Portland, Oregon, who described Matlock as "a
one-man dance party. Continually reassembling the wired connections of
white-hot punk energy and post-disco electronic dance music." And radio host Cherushii (Chelsea Faith Dolan). Dolan, 33, lived in San Francisco but
had traveled to Oakland to perform at the warehouse.
Other musicians killed were, Cash Askew, a 22-year-old musician who lived in Oakland, played in the band Them Are Us Too. Dais Records, based in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, released the band's debut album, Remain, in 2015.
Billy Dixon, 35, who lived in Oakland but grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where he played in a band.
Jacqueline Vu Patino said her friend was a talented musician and computer engineer who "always had a bright energy that was uplifting and contagious and was kind to everybody that he met."
Alex Ghassan, 35, spent the past seven years producing and directing projects for institutions, record labels and independent artists and corporations in the New York City market, according to a biography on his website. Most recently he'd been working in California as a contributing documentary producer for PBS affiliate KQED in San Francisco.
Travis Hough, 35, was a musician and artist from Oakland. He composed and performed very high energy, dance-oriented music, his artistic manager Brendan Dreaper told CNN.
32-year-old Benjamin Runnels, known to some as Charlie Prowler or Ben Benjamin, was the lead singer of the band Introflirt. Introflirt's self-described "croonwave" style "is a result of founder & singer Ben Benjamin spending countless weekends in an Oakland piano bar, honing his chops with mid-century jazz standards, realizing a vintage flair and rich vocal technique rarely heard in electronic music," according to the biography on the band's website.
Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, was a prolific musician who went by the stage name Nex Luguolo. The Hayward, California, resident was known to friends as Chase, and was part of a musical duo called Symbiotix.Fungi. He was the band's lead vocalist, according to the group's Facebook page.
Wittenauer lived in Nicaragua for a time as a child, according to his Facebook page. After the fire, Wittenauer's car was still parked outside the warehouse. His father posted a picture of it on his Facebook page, writing, "Please don't let it be true."
Barrett Clark Passionate and patient is how friends describe Clark, 35, a sound engineer who died listening to the music that he loved, according to CNN affiliate KRON.
Johnny Igaz
Other musicians killed were, Cash Askew, a 22-year-old musician who lived in Oakland, played in the band Them Are Us Too. Dais Records, based in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, released the band's debut album, Remain, in 2015.
Cash Askew
Billy Dixon, 35, who lived in Oakland but grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where he played in a band.
Jacqueline Vu Patino said her friend was a talented musician and computer engineer who "always had a bright energy that was uplifting and contagious and was kind to everybody that he met."
Billy Dixon
Alex Ghassan, 35, spent the past seven years producing and directing projects for institutions, record labels and independent artists and corporations in the New York City market, according to a biography on his website. Most recently he'd been working in California as a contributing documentary producer for PBS affiliate KQED in San Francisco.
Alex Ghassan
Travis Hough, 35, was a musician and artist from Oakland. He composed and performed very high energy, dance-oriented music, his artistic manager Brendan Dreaper told CNN.
Travis Hough
32-year-old Benjamin Runnels, known to some as Charlie Prowler or Ben Benjamin, was the lead singer of the band Introflirt. Introflirt's self-described "croonwave" style "is a result of founder & singer Ben Benjamin spending countless weekends in an Oakland piano bar, honing his chops with mid-century jazz standards, realizing a vintage flair and rich vocal technique rarely heard in electronic music," according to the biography on the band's website.
Benjamin Runnels
Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, was a prolific musician who went by the stage name Nex Luguolo. The Hayward, California, resident was known to friends as Chase, and was part of a musical duo called Symbiotix.Fungi. He was the band's lead vocalist, according to the group's Facebook page.
Wittenauer lived in Nicaragua for a time as a child, according to his Facebook page. After the fire, Wittenauer's car was still parked outside the warehouse. His father posted a picture of it on his Facebook page, writing, "Please don't let it be true."
Brandon Chase Wittenauer
Barrett Clark Passionate and patient is how friends describe Clark, 35, a sound engineer who died listening to the music that he loved, according to CNN affiliate KRON.
Barrett Clark
The ages of the people killed in the fire ranged from seventeen-year-old Draven McGill, who sang in the Pacific Boychoir and the youngest fatality of the fire, to 61-year-old Wolfgang Renner, a musician who played the electronic keyboard, the oldest. His girlfriend, Michele Sylvan, 37, died with him.
photo by Gabrielle Lurie
Michele Sylvan & Wolfgang Renner
Of the deceased victims, all but one were visitors to the warehouse. On June 5, 2017, Derick Almena and Ghost Ship creative director Max Harris were arrested and charged with felony involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fire.
Viewfinder links:
Arthur Fiedler, Mickey Alpert & the Cocoanut Grove fire
Music & Mayhem
Net links:
KQED Arts ~ Draven McGill, Singer, Music Student, and ‘Just a Great Kid’
New Yorker ~ What happened, exactly?
CNN ~ Oakland fire victims: What we know
LA Times ~ Victims of the fire: Who they were
The Guardian ~ Oakland artists after Ghost Ship fire
NY Times ~ Remembering Victims of the Ghost Ship Fire
KRON TV ~ Friends of Ghost Ship victims keep their music alive
CBS ~ Art Installation Tribute To Ghost Ship Fire Victims
Rolling Stone ~ Has Ghost Ship Fire Jeopardized Underground?
LA Times ~ Ghost Ship fire is nightmare scenario for promoters
NY Times ~ 2 Charged With Manslaughter in Deadly Oakland Fire
CNN ~ Two arrested in deadly Ghost Ship fire
Styrous® ~ Saturday, December 2, 2016
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