Cheap Trick raises questions about Bluesfest stage collapse

Cheap Trick is raising questions about the stage collapse at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.

The rock band was caught on stage when a severe thunderstorm moved through Ottawa on July 17. The band managed to escape just before the stage blew over. Their driver was injured.

Now, Cheap Trick wants to know why other structures -- very close by -- stood firm in such a powerful storm.

"We simply want to know: what are the companies and organizers doing to protect the next act and the next audience?" band manager Dave Frey said in a news release posted on Cheap Trick's website. "Every act and every fan ought to be asking the same question when attending an outside musical event."

The stage collapsed during a fierce, but brief, storm on the last night of the music festival. Ontario's Ministry of Labour is investigating.

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  Workers install a security fence in front of the Ottawa Bluesfest main stage which collapsed during a storm in Ottawa, Monday July 18, 2011. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)