SAN DIEGO, CA – Chris Griffin, a veteran rigger setting up the staging for the 2019 Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA, died from a fall from a temporary roofing structure on April 6. He was 49.
“We have lost a great man this last Saturday, doing the job he loved,” noted production manager Bobby “Boomer” Thrasher, who had set up a GoFundMe page for the veteran rigger’s family. Griffin is survived by his wife of 23 years, Samantha, and twin 14-year-old daughters. “He was an asset to everything he participated in,” noted Thrasher, a Parnelli Lifetime Achievement award recipient (2017).
A resident of San Diego at the time of his death, Griffin had worked on the setup for the Coachella festival during its entire 20-year span. He began his career in 1987, working in the U.K. and Europe before settling in the U.S., for production and staging companies including U.K.-based Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS), Stageco in Belgium, and Brown United, Kleege Industries and G2 Structures in the U.S.
A related news item is posted on plsn.com at http://plsn.com/newsroom/all-news/veteran-rigger-dies-during-setup-for-coachella-festival.
