Jessica Anna Michalik (7 January 1985 – 31 January 2001) was an Australian girl from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, born to Polish immigrants, who died as a result of

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can ...

five days after being crushed in a mosh pit during the 2001

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

music festival during a performance by headlining act

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

Incident

Limp Bizkit tribute during Soundwave 2012 in Melbourne

The

Coroner's Court of New South Wales The Coroner's Court of New South Wales is the court in the Australian state of New South Wales where legal proceedings, in the form of an inquest or inquiry, are held and presided over by the State Coroner of New South Wales (or NSW State Coron ...

findings into her death criticized the crowd control measures in use at the time, as well as Limp Bizkit lead singer

Fred Durst William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums. He ap ...

for his "alarming and inflammatory" comments during the rescue effort. Michalik's family and her best friend Liza Ryan have maintained that it was a series of factors that contributed to Michalik's death and that no one party was to blame. The band

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...

had taken exception to the vigorous moshing during their performance earlier that day. Their lead singer

Cedric Bixler-Zavala Cedric Bixler-Zavala (born November 4, 1974) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta and the only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, for whic ...

addressed the crowd at the conclusion of their song ''Cosmonaut,'' saying "I think it's a very very sad day when the only way you can express yourself is through

slamdancing Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dance, dancing in which participants push or slam into each other, typically performed to "aggressive" live music such as heavy metal music, heavy metal and punk rock ...

". Then after pointing at an audience member

crowd surfing Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert), transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The "crowd surfer" is passed above everyone's heads, with everyone's ...

, he continued "look at that... you didn't learn that from your best friend! You learned that from the TV!", and finally told the crowd "You're a robot, you're a sheep" before bleating at them several times and leaving the stage around 10 minutes into their set. The band Grinspoon (Michalik's favourite) performed at her funeral, and a "minute of noise" tribute has been observed at subsequent Big Day Out festivals. Limp Bizkit paid tribute to Michalik during their Soundwave 2012 performances, which included performing under a banner with Jessica's name on it during the Brisbane leg.

Incident

References

Further reading