Carl Monzo, the longtime event services professional who worked with countless bands and festivals and served as the head of security for Phish, passed away on Monday. Monzo was also the president and CEO of National Event Services, which provides artists and event organizers with emergency medical services, event staff and security, public safety consulting, and more.
Per the National Event Services website, “Carl began his career in Emergency Services in 1979. During his early career, Carl found the sports and entertainment industry was lacking in quality, professional emergency medical care. Based on this, Carl helped develop the first private ambulance service in Pennsylvania exclusively serving the special events industry.”
As Emergency Services grew and evolved considerably over the last four decades, Carl led the charge, ensuring a safe environment for mass gatherings like sporting events, concerts, and music festivals. He wrote some of the first safety planning manuals and built staffing models where none previously existed, setting the bar for emergency services in the modern festival community.
In the wake of Monzo’s passing on Monday, various artists and members of the live music community recognized the loss with heartfelt posts on social media. In addition to posts by the Phish accounts, guitarist Trey Anastasio posted a personal note along with a photo of himself, Monzo, and drummer Jon Fishman backstage at a concert. As Trey noted, “Whenever I arrived at a venue on the bus, Carl’s smiling face was always the first to welcome me. In the hallways outside of our dressing rooms, when we showed up at a venue and when we left at the end of the night, Carl was everywhere. He was always laughing and smiling, and made us feel safe and relaxed.”
Various other artists and industry professionals have offered tributes to Monzo, including Bob Weir and Oteil Burbridge (Dead & Company) and Dave Schools (Widespread Panic). Scroll down to see a few of the touching Carl Monzo posts. Rest in Peace, Carl. Thank you for keeping everyone safe all these years.
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We unexpectedly lost a huge part of the Phish org today with the passing of our dear friend and co-worker Carl Monzo, Phish’s head of security. RIP Carl. 😥 pic.twitter.com/CeAJY80P0G
— JMM (@juliamordaunt) November 16, 2020