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CINCINNATI - Dec. 3, 1979, is known as the night that changed rock, but it's also the night that changed 11 families. Mourners gathered Tuesday night outside Heritage Bank Arena to light candles in memory of the 11 people killed during a crowd stampede at The Who's Cincinnati concert 40 years earlier.
"They were just coming out to have fun," mourner David Creager said. "They had no idea what they were getting into, so it's good to remember them."
A table is set and 11 lanterns were placed in preparation for the gathered crowd.
"Coming together, helping each other, supporting each other," said Kasey Ladd, whose mother Teva Rae Ladd died at the concert. "It's always good to know you are not alone."
Ladd's mother was the oldest of the people killed that night.
"She was a hard-headed woman," Ladd said. "Very smart, graduated at the age of 17, went straight to college, and a good loving mother."
She lights a candle every year to keep her memory alive.
"It just means eleven kids ain't forgotten and that's pretty much the whole point," he said.
Along with the candles and a moment of silence, vigil goers brought mementos of that night like ticket stubs to honor those who lost their lives.
