Man takes own life at a Swell Season show

Man takes own life at a Swell Season show

There are worst-case scenarios, and then there are worst-case scenarios. Tragically, this falls in the latter. Thursday night, Michael Edward Pickels, 32, attended a Swell Season concert in Saratoga, CA and jumped to his death from the roof above the stage.

There is little that can be done to temper news like this, and posts from SF Weekly make the story more upsetting by the minute: Pickels went to the outside show at the Mountain Winery with a friend, leaving him shortly before climbing to the roof. He subsequently dropped soundlessly onto a speaker, a mere yard away from singer/guitarist Glen Hansard. Pickels was facing criminal charges, and was out on a hefty bail at the time of his death.

The Swell Season posted this statement on their Facebook page: “The band, crew and all involved with them are shocked and saddened by the death that occurred at last night’s show. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the deceased, his family and friends.”

For more details, read the updates here. As far as we know, The Swell Season will play their remaining August tourdates as planned.

• The Swell Season: http://www.theswellseason.com

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