Somewhat recently, we made a lengthy post about moshing, crowdkilling, and stagediving. The one overarching rule? Essentially, don’t be a dick. But given some serious nasty injuries that Janelle Dunnaway, a fan attending a Spite show recently incurred in Denver, Colorado, it’s time to revisit this subject again.
The girl in question, Janelle Dunnaway, has a GoFundMe (started up by Kristen Marie of Conquer Divide) for the medical bills she incurred as a result of being crowdkilled by a fellow concertgoer – sustaining multiple broken and missing teeth, and reportedly, multiple skull fractures. We’ve included the security footage of the show below, as well as the general story of what happened. Multiple people have brought into question the validity of Janelle’s story, specifically that she attended a Wage War & Gideon show a short time after suffering these injuries. We are here to report the facts, and the facts only.
Where this story gets interesting is that just a few days after the injuries suffered by Janelle, she was spotted at a Wage War & Gideon show. Not just broken teeth, but skull fractures. It seems very difficult to attend a show (or even leave a hospital) if you’ve sustained multiple skull fractures, as was reported. However…
Notably, Darius (Spite, vocals) took to Twitter and Facebook to support the GoFundMe.
https://t.co/0GbARod9Ho pic.twitter.com/drqGPdS8Yx
— Durs (@dariustehrani) July 24, 2017
Soundlink Magazine also spoke to Janelle about the events (full interview available here), and there are 3 important things to note.
1. Was She Crowd Killed/Targeted?:
This was one up for debate and one that I thought was a bit exaggerated. She openly admits also that she likes to throwdown and get in the pits also. I asked her if she thinks she was or if she misused the terms. I explained what I saw in the video from the incident and it had appeared to be accidental. She doesn’t remember much, which you hear what she does remember in the interview so listen before assuming things off this summary, so she isn’t sure entirely, either way, this was the one for me that I had to find out about. I still hold that it was a misusage of words.
2. Conquer Divide Is NOT A Beneficiary To The Gofundme Campaign:
Rumors have been going around the band is using Janelle Dunnaway’s story to gain some money for a new van. This is not true either in any way. Dunnaway is the only beneficiary to the Gofundme and as the medical bills gotten bigger, the amount asked for has as well. The financial burden nor the traction it has garnered were not known in any way from the start.
3. Injuries Have Been Misinterpreted:
Janelle Dunnaway was actually hurt at the show. What happened is what has caused people to question. Multiple teeth have been affected though only two have been removed and two almost ready to come out. A couple more have been injured as well though they are still rooted deep and nothing can be done at this point for them. The biggest misconception is the skull fracture, which understandably so. The skull is technically your whole head, so when many think of that they assume the top or side of your head, not the facial area of the head. This fracture was on the facial area away from the brain, not causing major damage or cause for concern.
Regarding Janelle’s injuries, she’s lost at least 2 teeth, with one other likely to be lost, and 3 others damaged and compromised.
We’re not here to say whether Janelle is worthy of having money donated to her or not, because let’s be honest, this stuff is very expensive, especially when you don’t have medical insurance. Getting your face smashed in at a show isn’t something that anyone “deserves”, to be certain – and if you think that’s the case, go take up boxing or something. It’s unclear whether Janelle was actually targeted, or whether this was an accident. But we are here to reiterate the “rules” of the pit. Don’t mess around with those who don’t want to be hit, pick someone back up if they fall, and most importantly – don’t be a dick. Watch out for your fellow concertgoers.
There is no real right or wrong here. What happened is unfortunate, to be certain – and while we don’t know whether this was intentional or not, clearly someone who was trying to enjoy the show was injured. And that’s never good.
