By Sesa Graham
HOUSTON- Last month’s fatal Astroworld Festival tragedy left concertgoers shook and organizers concerned for the future of live shows. Festivals are supposed to be a time where concertgoers may freely enjoy themselves, dance to their favorite music, and feel safe in an environment created just for them.
The night of Nov. 5, the crowd gathered to listen to one of their favorite artists, Travis Scott, expecting it to be one of the best nights of their lives. The evening soon took a turn for the worst when the crowd began pushing and shoving to get to the front of the stage, which led to individuals being trampled, falling, and screaming for help.
The packed event had over 50,000 people, resulting in ten people dying and more than 300 injured.
The destruction at Astroworld Festival has shaken the nation because others have been in fear-like situations in crowded places. It can happen at any gathering in a big city or a small town, and it is a high hope that safety will be there when needed.
The crush of the crowd left people unable to move, forcibly leaving them to be shoved any which way. It is still unclear what made the crowd push forward towards the stage, but it was described to be chaotic, and those in the back rushed to push forward to the front.
One local event coordinator, Marshall Conley, says he has seen these situations happen and knows that sometimes the show must not go on. When asked about his thoughts, Conley said, “Ultimately, the event organizers need to know how to react and do it quickly.”
Video footage shared by concert-goers on social media showed the chaotic scene close to the stage with people in the crowd begging for help. In a video posted to YouTube, Scott was on stage telling the crowd: “I want to see some rages. Who want to rage?” Towards the end of the video, Scott is heard saying, “If everybody good, put a middle finger up to the sky.”
Scott then urged the fans to make the ground shake when the music was resumed while others were pleading for their lives. Scott ignored the ones struggling and screaming to continue his onstage performance.
This is not Scott’s first time pushing the boundaries as an artist. He has earned himself a reputation for high-concept stage production and crazy, chaotic energy from his audiences. Scott pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges of reckless conduct after he encouraged his fans at Lollapalooza in Chicago to climb over the security barricades and onto the stage.
“Over the next several days, several weeks, could be even longer. We’ll take an in-depth look at everything that took place, why it took place, what steps we can do moving forward to mitigate an incident of this kind from taking place.” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced in a news conference Saturday evening.
Frequent concert-goer Elizabeth Mulka has two questions on her mind, “Why was there no one to help these people?” and “Why was no one stopping the concert?” More than 500 event security staff, including police officers, were paid to provide security at the event, so it should not have taken 40 minutes to shut the festival down when you have that many people working it, Mulka said.
This Astroworld Festival is now known as one of the deadliest crowd-controlled disasters at a concert in the United States since The Who’s show in Cincinnati in 1979 left 11 people dead.
Heather Wyckoff, a concert-goer for all things the ’90s, expressed her concern with hearing about the festival. Wyckoff said, “I think the answers that many want is why didn’t Travis see the crowd of people shoving and being shoved? Where were the security guards at? I have been to countless concerts, and I just don’t understand how this incident could have occurred.”
The police are still conducting a criminal investigation, and dozens of civil lawsuits have been filed against Live Nation, the festival’s promoter, and Scott. A recent lawsuit has been filed against Scott, Live Nation, Apple, and Drake for $750 million in damages on behalf of some of the clients’ families.
The crowd of the Astroworld Festival was young. Ten individuals, all ranging from 9 to 27, died.
Those who died are listed:
- Franco Patiño, 21, Naperville, Illinois
- Brianna Rodriguez, 16, Houston, Texas
- John Hilgert, 14, Houston, Texas
- Rudy Peña, Laredo, Texas
- Jacob E. Jurinek, 20, Naperville, Illinois
- Mirza Danish Baig, 27, Dallas, Texas
- Axel Acosta, 21, Tieton, Washington
- Madison Dubiski, 23, Cypress, Texas
- Bharti Shahani, 22, Houston, Texas
- Ezra Blount, 9, Dallas, Texas
