Stage 2 Tour

The **Stage 2 Tour** was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band All Business. Staged in support of the band's thirteenth album *We've Got Something to Say* (2000), the tour visited stadiums and fields from 2000 through 2001. The Vatican banned the group's Italian dates. There was an incident in the field.

### Open Field Vehicle Ramming Incident

It was the 56th show of the Stage 2 tour, and All Business had grown tired. If the decision to out Julia Nealy’s breast cancer was cause for members to become weary of the bands future, then the ruckus nature that had begun to take center stage at their shows would be a death sentence. Nowhere was this more evident than on April 26th, a day that would live in infamy for every current and former member of the band. People had died at All Business shows before, that was nowhere near a new occurrence for them, but the level of carnage, and the treacherous reactions of their most devoted fans that day would all play into the horror that transpired at the event that would come to be known as the All Business open field vehicle ramming incident.

Their show that day started like any other, with the seven remaining members taking the stage to an unruly, unkempt and sweaty audience made up of fans old and new. Those who were unaware of the infamous murmurings of this most recent tour would be met with shock and terror, as violent moshing would quickly erupt to the bands opening song, Little Lady in the Green. The moshing etiquette of the Businessmen (a fandom name many All Business fans had taken on at this time to describe their strict devotion to the group) was practically nonexistent, as violent punching and kicking would erupt at the mere sight of Vernon taking the stage before a single musical note had even be played. This was a sight that Vernon proudly encouraged. “Bring it on”, he commanded “bring on the hate”. Once the song's opening chords were played however, things would be turned up to an unprecedented degree. At this point in the tour, Michael Slammer had a seatbelt attached to his chair, meant to prevent the typically hammered slammer from falling back off his seat. This became a necessity, as the energy emitted from both the band and the audience was so ungodly violent that the band members had to physically restrain themselves to make sure they actually got to the end of their songs. It was a symbiotic relationship between All Business and their fans, one that sent the band members into a state of blind rage and aggression. This anger would blind the members from what was going on far in the distant outskirts of the crowd that night.

For this particular show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the band opted to play in an entirely open field, with absolutely no restrictions as to who, or what, could be brought into the show. The only thing that separated the audience from the parking lot was parking cones, something that The Businessman saw as containing zero power over them. One fan that day decided to take this idea to the next level, and began driving their car straight into the audience. What exactly prompted this behavior out of Trent Wallace that day is unfortunately unknown, but it can likely be attributed to a mixture of violent excitement at the bands performance of “Fuck With Us and You Will Die” and anger towards his far back placement from the stage. At first, the other Businessmen were able to mostly successfully dodge his Nissan Altima, but as his car got closer and closer to the stage, and the audience became more and more tightly packed, many were unable to get out of the car's reckless path. By the end of his journey, 53 people had been seriously injured, and 5 had died. By this time the crowd was so densely packed that he was unable to continue any further, but that evening had yet to claim its final victim. Enraged by the egregious actions of Wallace, and further prompted by the aggressive tone of the the still continuing “Fuck With Us and You Will Die”, members of the audience shattered Wallace’s windows and dragged him out of the car. These specific members of The Businessmen, who have still yet to be identified by authorities to this day, proceeded to beat the 22 year Old Wallace to death, bringing the total death toll for that night up to 6. All the while, All Business continued their performance of “Fuck With Us And You Will Die” getting only to their first iteration of the chorus following the completion of one verse, as the far away nature of this event, mixed with the lack of lighting provided by their “open field” venue, meant they were entirely unaware of these events until 5 hours after the show ended. On that night, when asked for further comment on the incident by a tabloid reporter, Ted Bundy further clarified “when it comes to the art of live performance, many begin to take such events to a point that the general, moral populace would find to be, frankly, inexcusable. We have encountered pain, horror, and grotesque injustice at our shows before, none of which is from our doing might I add, but it almost becomes something that you need to accept in this life. As tragic as that might be to confront, there are many things that are simply out of our control. We have chosen a certain path, a certain lifestyle for ourselves, and our brothers must continue down this road towards whatever our ultimate destination may be. We can try to minimize the consequences of this as best as we can, and we will try to do this, but when it comes to how our views and beliefs affect this, we simply cannot change them, as that would be to go against what it means to be a man”. Many took this statement as All Business claiming no responsibility for the tragedy and refusing to make a change in the face of it, which further sank the band's future into ever spiraling turmoil.