Woman Injured At Concert Sues House of Blues

The Chicago resident was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with injuries to her head, neck and back

A woman who attended an A$AP Rocky concert at the House of Blues is suing the venue, among others, after one of the performers jumped off stage and landed on her, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

As a result, concert attendee Tia Butts – then 19 – suffered serious injuries at the May 3, 2012 concert featuring hip-hop artists A$AP Rocky and Been Trill at the House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

“It was just a chaotic mess,” said Jonathan Schlack, Butts’ attorney. “An ambulance showed up and the Chicago Fire Department was on scene.”

Butts, now 21 and Chicago resident, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with injuries to her head, neck and back, according to Schlack.

When Schlack was asked if there was an assumed risk when attending a concert he quickly replied:

“I don’t think that is a foreseeable risk,” he said. “Who is to say a hip-hop concert has to be more aggressive than, say, a performance at the Civic Opera House? Why should a performance be any different?”

According to the suit and Schlack, Butts is unsure which performer jumped off the stage during the performance. No other attendees were taken to hospitals following the concert, Schlack said.

According to Been Trill’s website, the designer/musician is “An art collective and DJ crew whose image and sound is defined by the frenzy of new youth culture found on the pages of the deep web and on the blocks of big cities.”

Meanwhile, A$AP Rocky is a globally recognized performer from Harlem. He released his debut mixtape “Live” in 2011. He later signed a record deal with Polo Grounds Music, RCA Records and Sony Music Entertainment. In 2013, he released his debut album “Long. Live ASAP,” which landed number one on the Billboard 200, according to Bilboard.com.

The one-count suit is seeking more than $50,000 and is suing the House of Blues, RSV Gallery, LLC, Live Nation Worldwide, Ticketmaster Entertainment, Rakim Mayers and Been Trill. The suit claims the defendants “neglected to maintain a safe environment for the patrons.”

Calls made to the House of Blues were not immediately returned.
 

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