Sacramento fans hurt in Springfield hysteria

Concert promoters are blaming a hysterical reaction to the presence of rock star Rick Springfield for injuries to three people during a performance at the Cal Expo Amphitheater during the State Fair.

The injuries came during a second rush to the stage Wednesday night by excited Springfield fans. Just minutes before, a number of other fans had passed out or become ill as they were squeezed into a crowd rushing the stage just before the concert began, according to witnesses and officials.

One witness said as many as 30 to 40 concertgoers were affected in the first rush at about 9 p.m., before Springfield appeared.

Cal Expo Police Lt. Philip Murphy said at least three people had been sent to the hospital. The most serious injury was a broken collarbone suffered by a girl. Another young concertgoer suffered bruised ribs, and a third was diagnosed as having an elevated pulse.

Murphy said the injuries occurred when exuberant fans bumped into one another during the excitement of the performance.

Although there have been bigger crowds for other performers billed during this year's State Fair, a concert promoter noted, they had not created the hysteria that accompanies Springfield.

When Huey Lewis took the stage at the Amphitheater, there weren't any problems even though the show was sold out two nights in a row, State Fair officials said.

About 8,000 tickets were sold for Springfield's Wednesday night concert - about 4,000 less than the number sold for the Huey Lewis rock concerts, Bill Graham concert promoters said.

But Springfield fans are a bit younger than the Lewis crowd. And as Bill Graham concert manager Brian Oger summed it up: "When Rick Springfield takes the stage, girls react."

"It looked like Beatlemania," said publicist Bill Baine. He said that from his vantage point in the camera pit in front of the stage, he saw hysterical teen-age girls screaming, and the crowd surging toward the stage.

As members of the audience were overcome by the surging crowd before and during the concert, security guards lifted them out of the way and took them to a nearby medical tent, according to accounts of the scene.