By Kirk Mitchell, Jesse Paul and Matt Miller
UPDATE: Twin Shadow’s show at the Bluebird Theater on April 17 has been cancelled, according to the venue’s website.
A tour bus full of crew members for indie-rock musician Twin Shadow slammed into the back of a stopped semi-trailer on Interstate 70 early Friday in dense fog, injuring a dozen people, one of them seriously.
The Aurora crash set off a chain reaction that involved another tour bus carrying crew for a second band — country western duo Thompson Square — and a second semi-trailer.
“I’ve been in an accident. I’m in pain but I am conscious. Help is here,” Twin Shadow bass and keyboard player Spencer Zahn texted his mother Dorrelle Zahn.
I-70 was closed in both directions from the crash site at E-470 to Limon because of the wreck and dense fog, authorities said. The eastbound lanes were reopened at about noon after the closure halted traffic for miles.
The westbound lanes remain closed until debris from the wreck is cleared, authorities say.
The Colorado State Patrol said the person seriously injured in the crash, 41-year-old John Crawford, was driving the Twin Shadow tour bus that initially sparked the wreck. Eleven others aboard that bus had minor to moderate injuries and were taken to Aurora hospitals.
University of Colorado Hospital received seven patients from the crash, according Dan Weaver, a hospital spokesman. The Medical Center of Aurora said it received five passengers, all of whom have been treated and released.
The state patrol said dense fog likely caused the 8:30 a.m. wreck in the westbound lanes. Heavy rain and snow were also falling at the time.
The patrol said alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors.
“No charges have been filed but the case remains open,” officials said in a news release.
Twin Shadow had a concert scheduled for the Bluebird Theater in Denver Friday night. The show has been cancelled, according to the venue’s website. Singer-songwriter Erik Hassle was scheduled as the opening act. They left Lawrence, Kan., following a Thursday concert there. About 10 people including the bus driver, the four-member band and a crew were aboard the bus, which was packed with equipment, Dorrelle Zahn said.
The Dominican-born Twin Shadow, whose real name is George Lewis, Jr., rose to moderate fame in 2010 for his ’80s new wave-inspired debut album “Forget.” Based in Brooklyn, Twin Shadow released his second album, “Confess,” in 2012 and his third album, “Eclipse,” last month.
Touring in support of “Eclipse,” Twin Shadow was scheduled to play Denver’s Bluebird Theater on April 17 and Belly Up Aspen on April 19. Along with an appearance at South By Southwest Music Festival last month, the tour also includes a European leg in May.
In 2014, Twin Shadow played the Snowball Music Festival at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and the Bluebird Theater in 2012.
“All my songs are about me or other people I’m in relationships with. It’s all a part of me. I don’t like making up fictitious characters in my songs,” Lewis, Jr., told the Denver Post in 2012. “I used to do that when I was younger songwriter and now it’s just about me.”
A young man who was performing the opening act in the concert was also on the bus.
The crash happened at about 8:30 a.m. Police did not immediately provide more information on the wreck.
“Multiple victims reported, no confirmed (number),” the Aurora Fire Department said in a Tweet.
Dense fog was reported in the area at the time of the crash.
The Colorado State Patrol said it is also responding to the crash and is sending a spokesman.
It was not immediately clear when the interstate would reopen. Traffic is being diverted off the interstate onto E-470.
Twin Shadow is the project of Dominican-born musician George Lewis Jr., who rose to moderate fame in 2010 for his ‘80s new wave-inspired debut album “Forget.” Now based in Brooklyn, Twin Shadow released its second album, “Confess,” in 2012 and his third album, “Eclipse,” last month.
Touring in support of “Eclipse,” Twin Shadow is scheduled to play Denver’s Bluebird Theater on April 17 and Belly Up Aspen on April 19. Along with an appearance at South By Southwest Music Festival last month, the tour also includes a European leg in May.
In 2014, Twin Shadow played the Snowball Music Festival at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and the Bluebird Theater in 2012.
“All my songs are about me or other people I’m in relationships with. Itap all a part of me. I don’t like making up fictitious characters in my songs,” Lewis Jr. told the Denver Post in 2012. “I used to do that when I was younger songwriter and now itap just about me.“
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
