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   Two members of longtime Oakland rhythm and blues band Tower of   
   Power were hit by a train in Oakland near Jack London Square on   
   Thursday night minutes before a scheduled show at Yoshi’s.   
      
   Longtime drummer David Garibaldi and bassist Marc Van Wageningen   
   were struck by an Amtrak train passing outside the popular venue   
   shortly before their show that was scheduled for 8 p.m., said   
   Jeremy Westby, a publicist for the group, which has been   
   performing since the late 1960s.   
      
   Both men were taken to the hospital in critical condition after   
   the accident, said Sgt. Aaron Smith of the Oakland Police   
   Department.   
      
   A group of four people tried to cross the tracks — while the   
   warning guard arms were still down — toward Yoshi’s after a   
   freight train slowly chugged by, Smith said.   
      
   But the pedestrians didn’t see the Amtrak train traveling about   
   25 mph from the opposite direction on another track, he said.   
   Two were able to jump out of the way, but Garibaldi and Van   
   Wageningen were not.   
      
   Both men were rushed to nearby Highland Hospital in critical   
   condition, Smith said. Both regained consciousness at the   
   hospital, Westby said.   
      
   Both of their scheduled shows at Yoshi’s — an annual affair —   
   were canceled after the accident, said Hal Campos, the club’s   
   general manager.   
      
   Though Campos said he didn’t see the train strike, he ran out   
   when he heard the shouts and called 911. Both men got hit by the   
   train and thrown through the air in opposite directions, he   
   said, based on multiple witness accounts.   
      
   “The only thing that went through my mind was, ‘Is he OK? Is he   
   going to come out of this 100 percent?’” Campos said, adding   
   that they were unconscious when he found them.   
      
   The train that hit the men was a Capitol Corridor commuting line   
   that runs between Sacramento and San Jose, said an Amtrak   
   spokeswoman.   
      
   Witnesses told police that the train’s operator was sounding the   
   horn when the accident occurred, Smith said.   
   Known for its hard-driving horn section, Tower of Power now has   
   10 members, with more than 50 past musicians among its ranks.   
   The band’s hits include “You’re Still a Young Man” and “What is   
   Hip?,” which was co-written by Garibaldi. He joined the band in   
   1970.   
      
   The group’s performance at Yoshi’s is always an anticipated   
   annual highlight for the venue and the band’s fans, Campos said.   
      
   Though he didn’t know the two men personally, he said the band   
   was “like family” to Yoshi’s, a place it has been playing as   
   long as most anyone can remember. The band members were headed   
   from a hotel nearby when the train struck, he said.   
      
   “The shows were canceled and all that, but that doesn’t matter,”   
   Campos said. “We’ll refund our customers. But what matters here   
   is their life.”   
      
   Michael Bodley and John King are San Francisco Chronicle staff   
   writers. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com, jking@sfchronicle.com   
   Twitter: @michael_bodley, @johnkingsfchron   
      
   http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2-pedestrians-hit-by-train-   
   in-Oakland-near-estuary-10854827.php   
      
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