The Astroworld Disaster 

I drunkenly donated to one of the family’s funeral expenses and I think this is the first time I’ve woken up and not regretted a drunk decision.

A 14 and 16 year old dead. A 10 year old injured. Imagine sending your child off with good wishes and hugs and being hit with the news that your child is dead. Absolutely tragic, deep condolences to all those affected.

I saw GWAR a few years ago and experienced a crowd crush. When I tell you not being able to breathe being compressed on all sides is one of the scariest, panic-inducing experiences you can have I mean it. Picking up people that have fallen over after losing their footing is absolutely essential when there's that many people crammed into one place.

I once dropped my phone at a Radiohead concert. I darted down to the floor to pick it up quickly because the crowd was moving around. Thom Yorke realized this and he immediately said " i think someone passed out in the audience" thinking I had fallen. I was a solid 30-40ft away from the front of stage barrier at least. It was dark too. They CAN see what goes on in the crowd from up there. Some people just choose not to. Travis apologists need to stop.

I got pretty fucked up at Coachella a few years back (mixing edibles with a ton of alcohol). They had security all over the place, one guy brought me over to a medical tent, and dedicated medical staff that hooked me up to IV and stayed with me until I came to. I got extra water from them, found my group, and was still able to enjoy the rest of the day. That's how you run a festival.

Astroworld was my first festival and would be the first time I saw Travis perform live. Some buddies and I made the trek cross-country to Houston. We went into the festival late on Friday, going in together. During the Don Toliver set we separated (I got cold feet about going into the mosh pit). I end up going to wait in the merch line for a couple of hours while the rest of the sets finish before Travis comes on (I wanted some merch to remember the weekend, now I'm not sure I do). I end up standing in the middle, far-right side of the Travis set. Everyone in my general vicinity was close, but not too close. We were spaced respectfully for a standing room only concert. During the first 5 minutes of the set, I noticed people from the front start pouring out of the mosh pit (which I now know it was to just get out and breathe). The set ended and I had the time of my life, singing all of my favorite Travis songs as loud as I could. I didn't getting crowded or overwhelmed once, for which I am incredibly lucky. My buddies were not as lucky. When the surge of pushing started, they had gotten separated from each other. One of them had to crawl out of the mosh pit, practically on top of other people and was luckily pulled by a security guard. He ended up losing his shoes because he had to step out of them to ensure not falling under stampede-like feet. My other friend was pushed around by the swelling crowd and eventually landed near a railing that he held onto for the rest of the night. We got back to our airbnb and realized what had occurred, as it was all over social media by then. Bottom line, my friends were just lucky to make it out walking. I was lucky that the merch line had taken so long. I know this was long-winded and if you read all of it, it truly means a lot. I just had to comment my experience. It's a very off-putting feeling, remembering a night that was a blatant, unnecessary, avoidable tragedy as one of the greatest concert moments I've witnessed. Rest in peace to the victims and prayers to the injured in critical condition.

i went to the gorillaz demon dayz festival a few years ago and the crowd was huge and i was surrounded by people and was feeling faint. an absolute stranger gave me her water and picked me up and made sure i got air. I’ve been to countless punk shows and there’s a unspoken rule to pick people up and help if you see something. hell, I’ve helped people at shows without even thinking. this really did not need to happen.

Dude MCR stopped a show told everyone to take a step back, then take another step back, and that they wouldn't continue until the crowd did. People who think Travis isn't at fault blow my mind.

Qualified events steward here. Crowd control is an absolute bare essential for anyone planning a large-scale event. After the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 (when 96 football fans were crushed to death in the UK) there were serious overhauls to British events law, and stewarding began to be taken much more seriously. Whenever permission for an event is sought, the organizers must state how many are predicted to attend and provide adequate room for every attendant, as well as providing adequate staff and emergency services Ever been to a festival and found yourself having to choose between two artists of about equal fame you wanna see perform at the same time? That's a deliberate crowd management tactic. It makes sure ppl don't get too concentrated in one area. And its why SAFE festivals arent climaxed around one single stage by a headliner thats much more massive than the other acts. It seems however that the US is much less squeamish about cramming in as many paying customers as possible to protect the egoes and wealth of organizers, major promoters and mainstream artists. The fact that the concert wasnt paused and safety announcements werent made is an absolutely putrid shock to someone like me who's studied the horrendous effects of poor festival planning. Travis and the organizers either knew that deaths/injuries could result from their ill planning and still gambled on it for the sake of greed, or they were simply incompetent and unprepared to handle a large crowd. Either way, this would be grounds for multiple life sentences in a country that values the sanctity of human life over profit When you go to a big event, make an escape plan. *If the crowd starts getting too thick, keep your elbows at your sides but angled slightly forward, bring your arms up against your chest, cross your hands over the ball of the wrist and flatten your fingers over your breasts (try it now, make yourself as flat as possible). This will act as armour to protect your ribs.* Control the urge to panic. Close your eyes and focus on breathing. Reassure yourself that you will get through this. In the same way that panic spreads from person to person, so can calmness. Be that person who puts faith in those you are surrounded by. And most importantly: *hold public events organizers to account.* It is your legal right and a moral obligation to the victims of horrible tragedies like this. Ask a member of staff where the fire extinguishers or first-aid tents are. If its indoors, ask at the bar if the ceiling tiles are made of fireproof material, what the maximum safe capacity is, or when the next test for the sprinklers is due. *You are legally entitled to request this knowledge at any time, and the staff are not allowed to obstruct or threaten you if you decide to report them to authorities.* If you cant get an immediate and satisfactory answer then they haven't been trained enough and its probably time to start drafting a lawsuit. Have fun, be aware of your rights, and make sure concerts continue being the safe haven we need in a post-pandemic world. Stay safe everyone

Travis Scott doesn’t seem to realize that his fans are people who have their own lives outside of his 90 minute show. They aren’t disposable props that you can use to create an aesthetic of chaos. Just disgusting man.

I was at a small punk show in Dallas where a dude tried to start a fight in the pit. The drummer of the band didn't even wait for anyone else to stop playing before hurdling over his drum kit and grabbing the instigator and throwing him out of the venue himself. It was a glorious moment

The fact that the stage manager has a direct feed to the artist's ear, and the sound engineers at the mixing station (they're the ones in the front centre of festival) who could just cut the sound and raise the lights didn't do anything is baffling. Also the fact that the artist can normally see what's going in is very troubling. Most bands/artists I've seen in my 25 years of going to gigs would stop the music and ask for the crowd to sort things out, why didn't Travis Scott see this, and more importantly, do anything? Especially as Scott has had previous for this - He's been charged twice for inciting riots at this gigs (2015 and 2017 I believe), makes this a very bad mix of a tragedy waiting to happen. The fact that Scott decided to play on, even when a fucking ambulance is driving through the crowd blows my mind. Think this is a watershed moment for artists responsibility for safety at gigs, as well as event management. I hope this will enforce some change.

Rest In Peace to all who passed.

I saw Linkin Park play here in Australia and Chester saw a girl pass out on the barrier and immediately halted the show. His actions prevented her from any serious damage, and I always think about that moment when I think about the legacy that Chester left. This is such a needless loss of life. People went to Travis Scott's festival to have a good time and people have died, been injured, and undergone serious trauma in return. Travis has not only failed his fans, he has failed his city, and he has failed the live music industry.

The always lifting people up when they fall mentality should be talked about more in other music scenes besides punk/metal. I go to a lot of shows and I’ve fallen hard and have always gotten scooped up and have helped to pull others up too. It makes it feel a lot less scary when you know people will help you up if you fall.

I went down at a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in 2002 and man, it's some scary shit. A big surge, I had absolutely no control of where I was going and eventually lost my footing and I was on the ground with a load of people after falling on top of me. I genuinely thought I was gone. Couldn't breath, and the pressure, man, it's terrifying. And all this happened way back from the front so no one could see what was happening. It was only sheer will to get out of it that got me up. The stories you hear of people finding superhuman strength in certain situations are true. I still don't know how I managed to push myself up from a face down flat position with at least 3 or 4 people on my back, possibly more. I was able to help get a few others up off the ground then. It's a tragedy what happened at Astroworld and more so because no one stopped it. Heads need to roll over this.

The thing that really pisses me off is that Travis Scott stopped an earlier show because a fan was trying to steal one of his shoes as he was crowd surfing, and then spent a few minutes berating the would-be thief and telling the crowd to beat him up. So when _he_ is affected, everything halts, but when hundreds are in danger and screaming? He continues the show. This just reeks of someone with a death-star-sized ego failing to advocate for the safety of his fans.

Can you imagine just going into a concert for fun, only to end up losing your life and that very same artist that you supported by going to that concert could give a shit less about you. It's really sad to think about man. Rest In Peace to the lives lost and I hope the people injured recover well.

I was there at Astroworld 2021 and also Astroworld 2019, I can say from experience the shit was hectic from the jump. I was at the gate for Don and as soon as he started preforming I knew this was different the crowd was body on body squeezing each other like a tube of tooth paste. Bobbing my head to the music while looking up to take breaths of cold air from the top, soon realized I had to leave the Don set early because the crowd was bad. So proceed to push past 50,000 people to sit and rest while my body was dripping sweat from being heated by the bodies of 1000s dancing. For the Travis Set I stood there waiting for two hours to get a good spot, which I did was near the stage left side floating with the crowd trying to stay afloat before he even got on. The crowd was like a singular entity moving as one big wave, you had no control of your movement or who you were pushing or stepping on. My area was super hetic constant falling and pushing for 2 hours before he even got on. I’m a 6ft 200lb guy and I was getting pushed around I can only imagine the small people. The crazy part is most of the crowd had no idea people died until later that night.

When looking at how literally any other artist or band has handled overcrowding or fighting in the crowd..you see how much of a basic thing it is to tell the crowd to pick others up and stay safe. Even Lil Pump stopped one of his shows to tell people to step back and keep hydrated. Even Lil Pump had the decency to tell his fans to chill out. Travis lacks basic empathy. Its kind of creepy.

That ”yeeeaaahhh” video of him just watching the bodies being carried out was honestly terrifying.

I was there and it was a complete chaos, I’ve never seen anything like that. The only reason I didn’t get severely hurt was solely because I’m somewhat fit and was completely sober that night, and even then I almost reached a complete point of exhaustion just from ppl crushing me from every angle, and not being able to breathe in some instances. I saw ambulances right next to me that couldn’t pass through because ppl were “raging” it was insanity rip to those who lost their lives.

When I was 15 my brother and his girlfriend took me to see Anthrax and Pantera for my birthday. We were at the front, as soon as Pantera came out everyone rushed. My feet were no longer touching the ground, I was being held up by people on 3 sides and smashed against the fence on the other. Next thing I know I'm in the VIP area surrounded by guards. I was loosing conscientious and a guard noticed and pulled me over the fence. My ankle was wrecked because apparently they had a hard time getting my leg over the fence since it was smashed between people and the fence. We were way too young to know the danger of something like that. Thank God for those security guards that noticed I was in distress. Something needs to be done to stop stage rushing. RIP to everyone.

I'm devastated at this as most people are! My neice was killed at Ariana Grande concert It still hurts so much! Love To All Affected by this Needless Tragedy ❣x

My two cents: blaming the crowd for the stampede Is a mistake. A similar event happened in the UK at Hillsborough stadium, and the media made it out like the fans were being rowdy, - but it turned out that it was the police and organizers who had directed far too many people into a choke point and basically smushed everyone to death up against a chain link fence. Basically, blame the organizers, and maybe Travis Scott for apparently not caring about his fans.

"Floor of bodies" is a sentence I can't even begin to fathom. This was so tragic. A fear I have is that if they pulled the plug, people would start booing and revolting (thus becoming even more uncontrollable) like in many instances in the past. Why do people become so barbaric and dangerous when everyone came together just to listen to some good music and escape from the world for a bit? It's so senseless. Heartbroken for these families.

I remember the Iron maiden concert in Argentina in 2013, in the very first song part of the front barrier falls down as the people try to push to get closer to the stage. And at the very first second where that occurs, Bruce Dickinson stopped singing and tells the people to step back. And soon after the rest of the band stopped playing until they fixed the problem, that day nobody got hurt by that accident. That tells us that full awareness of the crowd by part of the artist on the stage can actually save lives.

Travis’s reaction to this reminds me of that part in Lord Of The Flies where they all accidentally stab Simon to death because they thought he was the “beast”, and reality sets in that they went too far and actually killed a person. They were high on adrenaline and lost their minds because they were a bunch of young boys running rampant on a deserted island with no adult supervision and no sense of authority. Travis was no different from those boys, and it isn’t the first time he acted like them at his concert. Yeah the reality set in for him too, but far too late. I’m sure he cares more about those incoming lawsuits than the lives lost.

Sad part is, by this time next year, everyone will have forgotten. They’ll still support him while the parents have to live with it.

if this was Coachella, then Travis wouldn’t be to be blame, it would be more on the organizers, but this was ASTROWORLD, he’s the face of the operation, the responsability falls on him

That clip at the end almost made me tear up. There were multiple times Chester and LP spotted someone in trouble and IMMEDIATELY stopped everything and directed all attention to them. Those are people who actually cared about their fans and human lives. Travis just says that bullshit but fails to back it up. This isn't the first time people have been hurt at his shows. With his history of riling up the crowd, this was bound to happen eventually. Such senseless death..

I don’t understand how people are still defending Travis handling of this event!

Travis Scott encouraging his young fanbase to massively overcrowd each other is beyond inexcusable

RIP to everyone who died there. There should be not a single life lost at any of these concerts.

The whole Raging community and mindset that Travis has influenced has affected his shows so negatively. Most of the kids there at Astro have probably never been to other shows outside of that and didn’t know what to do either. I can’t even imagine how scary the whole situation must’ve been. And the fact that nobody stopped the show completely is really really concerning

Furthermore, Travis Scott was accused by a former employee (maybe manager, i don’t remember exactly and not his name either) of leaving him for dead when he had a seizure. other people were there and were able to get help, but travis just left without even calling 911.

I'm reminded of seeing RATM at Lolla. There were several moments when the crowd was going nuts and people needed to carry their friends out. Zach stopped the show two or three times and made it clear that the people next to you were "not the machine we are raging against". My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who died. We gotta stick together.

That Chester clip at the end got me teary-eyed. Legend

Although not my worst experience, I was at Woodstock 99, and it was a total shit show that I'll never forget for the rest of my life and I honestly avoid festival concert venues because of it, although I've been to plenty of concerts since. My heart goes out to all these people.

I was like 14-15 when I fell in a heavy metal concert mosh pit. I thought I was gonna get trampled on, but an older gentleman reached down and grabbed me by my collar and pulled me up 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Then he gave me two pats on my back which made me feel fantastic

I was there at summer jam when Travis Scott flipped out and kicked out a photographer. The guy was just doing his job, and Travis went on a power trip screaming “I’m an artist” while kicking the dude out. I was confused at that time. Just goes to show how much he doesn’t respect anybody not named Travis Scott. He stopped his whole show because someone was taking photos for work, but he won’t stop the show when his fans are screaming for help and dying.

I'm no longer a fan of his after whatever this was. You've got to have a shattered moral compass to put a concert on pause over someone stealing your shoe, yet carrying on with another one while witnessing unparalleled chaos in front of you. Disgusting negligence. The "apology" that followed was about as insincere as it gets. Circling the drain. On another note, major props to Mr. Fantano here for providing an account and opinions on what happened without being biased. As enraging as it is, I'm a bit surprised.

Gotta say, as someone terrified of crushes, once a crowd grows to a density of 6 or 7 people per square meter, the crowd develops fluid dynamics, and it is very difficult for a person to control their movement. Lots of people have been talking about the audience behavior in a way I think doesn’t acknowledge how powerless people tend to be in a crush scenario. The people in the back pressing forward literally have no knowledge of what’s happening in the center, and once they do know, it’s too late, they’re the ones being crushed. That’s why artists encouraging everyone to step back in between songs or making a point of keeping an eye on the crowd is so vital: they can be the first to let those people in the back know that moving forward isn’t safe.

Rip Chester ❤️ "When somebody falls, what do you do?!"

that carti clip is relevant especially when you think about how carti was going to play in houston couple weeks ago, fans rushed past security (much like the vids we see for astroworld) and they cancelled the carti houston concert smartly

Big shout out to Roddy Ricch for donating his earnings to the victims' families. He is as real as they get, he knows struggles and hard times, met tragedy during his come-up. He learned and acted accordingly.

I doubt anyone outside of the UK will have heard of this but this distinctly reminds me of the Hillsborough Disaster.

My younger sister passed out at the meadows festival a few years ago during a gorrilaz set and it’s one of the scariest things that can happen. You feel trapped and barely anyone seems to care. I’m very thankful to the few people that helped us get through the sea of people to a medical tent.

When Chester passed I remember seeing that video of him stopping the concert and saying he’ll redo the songs as many times as he needs to as long as everyone stays safe. It’s so heartbreaking to know that an event supposed to be a huge memory for so many people has turned into such a tragedy.

Can’t believe people are actually defending Travis Scott, he’s stopped shows in the past for much less (like losing his shoe) so the argument that “he couldn’t see or hear because of the lights & his ear-piece etc” is nonsense. He literally looked over at the commotion & proceeded to perform like nothing was happening. If there are people climbing at the stage telling you to stop, there’s no way in HELL he couldn’t have noticed that. He and his team need to be held accountable for this because had they stopped maybe the paramedics could’ve made it through to save some lives

Back in august I was at the Donda listening party at soldier field and once they opened the gates up every single person was running to the merch line. I was jogging for a little bit then thought it was absurd to be running as fast as one could just for a shirt. I had ended up talking with a security guard while walking through the stadium and he mentioned how the merch hadn't even arrived at the stadium yet. and as i both got to the bottom of the ramp to head to my seat i was swarmed on both sides by hundreds of people trying to find whatever merch stand had items. I was stuck, couldn't move anywhere because people thought I was trying to cut them in line. After a while it became hard to breathe (and I am relatively tall 6'2") and I slowly made my way to the edge of the crowd as I could. Finally got some air and suddenly one security guard moved a stantion that opened up space towards the empty table. And that moment the crowds stampeded over baricades to get closer to that table, I moved with the crowd for a bit just to not get trampled. But there was a stone formation in the stadium that my leg got suck in, I was unable to move due to the crowd pushing harder and harder against me. the stone began digging into my skin of my calf/leg and I soon felt so much pressure that i thought my shin was going to snap as my upper leg and body was being pushed down and climbed over. I don't know exactly how I mustered up the strength to move against enough people to pull my leg out and just hug a pole close by so the crowd would go around so I could survive. once the crowd had moved on I went to a security guard to try and find first aid to help me with my leg as it was extremely bloody and he said he didn't think there was first aid. I then asked one of the concessions workers if there was first aid and there was no one. I can't believe how unprepared artists and teams and companys such as livenation are and I am so sad to hear many were not able to get the help they need. My heart goes out to all those families who lost someone at this festival. I hope major changes happen and that travis and his team accept responsibility because it is all on them.

There is no artist worth getting crushed over. I’ll be in the back enjoying my snacks

watching travis chanting “yeeeaah” as he’s watching a dead body being carried out is the most scarring thing & i wasnt even there. praying for these people!

at this point if anyone is still defending travis they’re being willfully ignorant. no one is saying he bears all the responsibility but you can’t just ignore the fact that he knew something was seriously wrong and continued to play like it was nothing. there was a body in front of his face and he kept singing. the man was completely unphased. he intentionally ignores safety measures and encouragers reckless behavior. he thrives on this type of chaos. people have lost their lives because of carelessness and lack of empathy. that’s more important than sticking up for an artist you like.

I swear there was nothing anyone could do. People were losing their minds an hr before trav came out. The weight of the crowd was painful and exhausting to push against. I was maybe 20 feet from the middle stage and 25 feet from the front of the stage, on the left side of the crowd. I can remember slowly losing my friends. Every time I looked over, 1 out of my two friends disappeared. I had to let go of their backpacks to hold their arms, then hands. Finally I rubbed my finger to let them know I needed to let go. The crowd could've broken my arm. People were surfing out a passed out body and when it reached the gate where only the camera men were, they dropped him over. just leaving him there like nothing. What else would the crowd have to do though? No one prepared us to face this nightmare. As traumatic as this event was. Eventually everyone around me ignored what was really going on. What an inhuman memory I'll have to live with and be a part of.

I have been to multiple concerts that have been stopped as they forced attendees to step backwards to relieve pressure. I also was near the front row of another show and a girl was freaking out about the pressure next to me so those surrounding lifted her up on top of the crowd and surfed her outta there. Travis definitely has responsibility for what occured. Education of the crowd should also be done by artists as they open to set the example especially those with younger fanbases.

Really excellent coverage of the situation man. Thanks for doing this, and for being so professional with it ❤️

I was in the camp of defending Travis...before I saw the videos and pictures. "This shit is loud and the crowd is massive. He could've easily not known." Well...he knew. Not the numbers, but when there's an acknowledged ambulance in the middle of the crowd, unconscious bodies and chants to stop the show. The more I think about it, the worse it gets. Feels like Travis read about the bystander effect and thought it'd be a great sequel to 'BUTTERFLY EFFECT'.

I went to a gig in Bournemouth, England at the O2 venue several years ago. I arrived early, and it was very evident that a safety barrier in front of the stage was faulty, and would have collapsed under the weight of a crowd pushing against it, crushing the people at the front. I reported it to the thicko lummoxes on security several times, who did sweet F*ck all. Eventually, I marched to the back of the hall, demanded to the teller that I speak to the manager. I told him he either got it fixed properly before the show, or I was calling the police to get the venue shut down due to demonstrable safety concerns. The compensation would have cost them thousands, possibly tens of thousands. Strangely, an engineer appeared within minutes and it was fixed. Learning: Speak to the top dog and threaten them with a closure. Don't mess with these people, and don't waste your time with security guards, they don't give a toss.

I've been in my fair share of rowdy moshes-- Gogol Bordello, MGMT, Of Montreal, and even Crystal Castles during their prime....none of them felt out of control like this. Not even the MGMT show which was massive, outside in the middle of summer, and full of young people drinking and on drugs. Not during Gogol Bordello where they literally crowdsurfed and poured wine on people below. I still remember when my glasses flew off my face and three big burly dudes immediately formed a perimeter around me as I searched the ground to retrieve them. I've seen some videos of the Travis Scott incident and there is a lot of evidence that there were many helpful, brave individuals who cared for those around them, even as they themselves could barely move or breathe. But those people could only do so much in the face of poor planning and event security. 700 cops and 500 security guards is pathetic compared to a crowd of 75,000....there needs to be some major accountability here. People did not have to die or get hurt. At all.

Bro Roddy Rich immediately said that he was donating all his proceeds to the victims well before Travis even posted anything, that man has earned my respect for that and I'm just amazed at both Travis and Drake for their responses to this thing.

The first mosh pit I ever went to was for City Morgue and I cannot stress enough how much the two of them emphasized mosh safety. Between each song people would also pick up objects that others might’ve dropped and return them to their owner. It really feels like these fans that attended the festival don’t understand what a mosh pit is supposed to be.

He went to dave and busters for a afterparty after this tragedy

As a performer you guide the crowd. They are receptive to your input. It is great fun to go absolutely nuts, and taking care of yourself and others does not take anything from that fun. Every performer needs to know that their words and actions influences every person in the crowd.

Big ups for donating ad rev to those affected. It’s also really cool that you waited to make a video instead of spamming one out as soon as the tragedy took place.

Honestly I’m going to have a hard time listening to Travis again after this, this was horribly tragic, and it could’ve 100% been prevented. RIP to all those that were lost. 🙏

I saw System of a Down once at a festival and was caught in a surge. They stopped mid set and threatened to leave if people didn't push. Was a scary situation. Prayers to those who have been injured or sadly lost their lives.

We can only hope those victims sue Travis Scott out of existence… God speed to the most bloodthirsty lawyers.

Not to distract from what a tragedy this is, but I want to thank you for putting the Carti clip in because I noticed a huge amount of worrying hyper-religious and bigoted comments on all the major posts regarding the concert calling the youth and modern music in general “demonic and evil”. Carti literally has inverted crosses in the background and immediately took action when informed the crowd was in danger. Alternative/provocative art is not at fault here. Again, this is not the bigger issue as the loss of these lives is absolutely devastating but I wanted to share this thought.

I was at a Ski Mask the Slump God concert once, coincidentally our Anthony Fantano was there as well. Apparently earlier during the tour a fan got injured, so Ski Mask and all the stage crew took the time and MADE IT CLEAR that everyone should be looking out for those around them, picking people up, and staying hydrated. They also tossed out free water bottles throughout the show. Like Ski Mask, Travis knows his audience and is 100% aware that this kind of thing can happen.

It's almost a bit touching seeing the Linkin Park-concert at the end; no matter the subject matter and tone of your music, that is how you react to that sort of situation at hand. Coming from Denmark, this reaches even closer to home. The Pearl Jam-concert at Roskilde Festival rivalled this in terms of casualties and was also regarded as a massive tragedy. Back then it was also a lot in part due to lack of experience in holding huge concerts and setting up the infrastructure right; lots of metal bars and fences to get crushed by - while today, there is a separation of the pit (sometimes two) and the "backscene"; volunteers walk back and forth in the space between the two, look out for people and hand out water - also some water posts in the middle of the audience next to the speakers. A memorial was also put up; 8 trees being planted for each, and they have now grown large. It's quite special to just sit next to them during the festivals now. I sincerely hope this event will bring up some changes in festival-conduction and attitudes aswell.

What happened: The event was scheduled recklessly. Prior to Travis's set, SZA was performing on the secondx sta ge. The concert organizers didnt overlap the performances, which is a common method used for crowd control at large festival events. They even had a 45 minute break scheduled between those sets, allowing the entire crowd to migrate to/consolidate at the main stage in preparation for Scott's performance. Additionally, there was a countdown clock on stage. These factors resulted in a "crowd crush" scenario. (Wikipedia what a "crowd crush" is, it's enlightening to understanding what happened) Factor in Drakes surprise appearance during the chaos... Event organizers and managers are more to blame than the artists themselves... So heartbreaking for everyone involved. I hope lessons are learned and something like this never happens again.

Even Cudi (who Travis' inspired by and the person who was personified as Mr Rager) would not let his fans go apeshit due to concern on their safety. While Travis here acting and ordering his crowds to act "raAGe" like mindless 7 year old.

Seeing people defending Travis on twitter saying "this is how Travis's shows are, if you can't handle it, don't go. We are ragers" made my blood boil, this whole thing is tragic and RIP to everyone who lost their lifes in this mess, also hope that people that were there and saw this don't get mentally scared because just by seeing the videos I got terrible feelings, being there and seeing all this in front of your eyes must be traumatizing, honestly. I'm really sad.

I hope we can install large resolution IR cameras that can detect when crowd density gets too high and when crushes and human pressure waves are occurring and immediately treat it like an emergency such as a fire drill where we all learn to stop pushing and try to get the crowd to move away from the high density areas. These happen so rarely but the death count is often as bad as a fire, we need formal detection and safety precautions in place.

ya gotta think Travis is one of the only ones that could’ve really done something. In a setting like that the artist is really the only communicational tool to the crowd so really just like in the carti clip, it’s his fault. Much love to everyone that passed and better health to those you are recovering mentally and physically

Thank you for showing examples of what artists *should* do when they see that something is amiss in the audience. I think people underestimate exactly how much an artist can see from the stage. I’ve seen musicians stop mid-song if they see *one* person fall out or if the audience is getting crushed. According to witnesses, hundreds of people were falling unconscious, there’s no way Travis Scott didn’t notice that something was very wrong. It really seems like he isn’t concerned about the safety of his fans. This was an avoidable tragedy. RIP.

To clarify it was a crowd crush, not a stampede. In a stampede people have more control over their motion and they are walking on top of people, whereas in a crush they are simply so packed together that they suffocate just from standing. In addition I think you should give more responsibility to Live Nation here (while not cutting Travis any slack either)

The last word to Chester. Totally caught me off guard. Thank you❣ Chester, always in our hearts and never forgotten...R.I.P..brother. I just wish to God that someone had picked you up...but the opposite happened.

I didn't expect to see Chester on this video but I'm truly glad I did. Chester never hesitated to stop a show when things went out of control. That's called human decency aka the right thing to do. this sorry excuse of a man has 0 regard for his fan's lives. not just their wellbeing but their LIVES. it's disgusting, infuriating and heartbreaking all at the same time. Rest in Peace to the people who paid the highest price.

What doesn’t make sense to me about people who are defending Travis, saying there was little he could do is that fact that it’s HIS festival?? Let’s say he genuinely didn’t see what was going on in the crowd(although it’s unlikely) the fact of the matter is the event was poorly put together. Understaffed, and overcrowded. He wasn’t a hired talent at someone else’s festival or event, this was HIS event. Yes the organizers of the event are definitely to blame but who’s the person that HIRED them?? Him and his team are liable for hiring the organizers they did. If you’re going to throw a whole festival with giant monuments of yourself all over the place, maybe be more hands on and make sure it’s safe for the people that are paying hundreds of dollars to see you.

i was 16 years old at an earlwolf concert in 2013, the one in sydney. there was a death circle, of course there was with his lyrics and shit back then. but before it happened, for 5 or so minutes, tyler was telling us, a silent, captive audience, to PICK UP those who fall, not to throw bows and go insane, to be respectful and make sure everyone has a good time. it really calmed us down, made us think of each other as a singular unit. PICK THEM UP. it should be on every ticket sold from now on.

I appreciate how structured this video is. Giving a summary, provide details, then end with an example of how it's done and how people have prevented such instances for decades, professionally and empathetically.

This summer I almost drowned in the ocean. It was the most terrifying experience in my life, and the *screams* for help that I gave out match the ones seen in the videos of people at the concert. I can’t stress enough how terrified the people at the concert must have been. I pray for all those that passed and the ones who experienced horrible trauma

Travis Scott should’ve stopped. Instead, he exacerbated an already dangerous situation. You could hear the audience screaming for help between songs in the livestream, there’s no way Travis Scott wasn’t aware that something was very, very wrong. He saw unconscious bodies being crowdsurfed over the audience and kept singing, he saw the trapped ambulance and he told everyone to put their arms up and to make the ground shake; two of the worst things an artist could do in a crowd crush situation. As soon as people put their arms up it made the crowd compress even more. People said as soon as they put their arms up they couldn’t get them back down, exposing their ribs and losing their best line of defense in a packed crowd; their shoulders and elbows. Add in the jumping and everyone *had* to jump, if anyone lost their footing during that situation they ended up being swallowed by the sea of bodies and trampled beneath their feet. TS had so many opportunities to diffuse the situation, and he did nothing. He made the situation worse. RIP to the victims.

That clip at the end “when someone falls down what do you do?” “Pick them up?” Sounds like a prayer now. This tragedy should have never happened. My heart hurts for all the victims.

I work at festivals, on a much smaller scale, but it is without a question always our responsibility to make sure people are safe. The issue is that most event organizers don't take this serious enough, either not briefing security on different protocols in case of events, not giving them decent ways for communication, and most of all not staying sober for the duration of festivals. There's been situations where I worked festivals and the orhanizer was so coked out you couldn't get any decent responses, our headsets weren't charged, security was aggressive rather than helpful... just not how it should be.

Travis really took this opportunity to take a paid sponsorship with BetterHelp ™️

Melon the goat for donating the ad revenue for this

A guy at my high school passed away at the event I didn’t really know him, but I hope his family finds healing this was such a horrible tragedy that shouldn’t have even happened

I was not at the festival nor had I ever been to a Travis Scott concert, but before this tragedy I was a really massive fan of Travis Scott and his music. He had been by far my top spotify artist for multiple consecutive years leading up to that point, so I was a bonafide fan of his for a very long time before that. Immediately after I heard what had taken place, still without the context of Travis' actions at the concert, I was shocked by what took place. Once I learned the complete and utter negligence and lack of seemingly any care at all from not just Travis, but almost all the the technical crew as well, I was absolutely sickened to my stomach. Ever since that I have personally been completely unable to listen to Travis' music in almost any shape or form, even listening to features of his on other artist's songs just gives me the feeling that I shouldn't be supporting this person who has shown a clear and concise lack of any empathy or sense of responsibility for his gross negligence that resulted in 8 people dying, and hundreds more being hospitalized and injured. The icing on the proverbial cake was his and Kylie's complete insincere slap in the face of a NON-apology afterwards, ever since that happened I have refused to support Travis in any way, shape, or form. I wasn't personally affected by the tragedy but I will not support someone with a clear history of endangering his fans at concerts to feed his perceived "rager" culture, and absolutely no remorse for the completely preventable tragedy that took place because of his own sick negligence and lack of empathy. Fuck you Travis.

I've been in a bunch of mosh pit events and let me tell you, even if sometimes gets out of hand, never, I repeat, we never letf someone who fell over, in the floor we immediately pick them up and guide them to a safe area, then we proceed to have fun, the thing is, we know we are just having fun and we coordinate so we have enough space to mosh together, I remember the last metal concert I attended, people were just in a big circle and had turns to clash with each other, I was a bit hyped and tried to enter, but the same people just told me was dangerous for me and could get injured, so seeing this kind of "pit mosh" on these kind of events is just confusing to me like why escalated to that extent, I mean I kinda now why, cuz some people are just that stupid and don't consider others well being, while the ones that care get ignored 😭 hope all the families find peace and justice 🙏💐 and the young souls that were lost, rest in peace, this is so heartbreaking

Chester screaming 'pick 'em up!' was on my mind the whole video. Gave me the chills you put that on there, man..it's a fucking shame..thoughts go out to everyone who ever lost someone.

People screaming for help like their drowning in the ocean is probably the most accurate description I've heard so far

I think it's a combination of many new people never having been to a crowded, jam-packed event, an increase of people due to the re-opening, and green performers like Travis Scott that always took for granted the more experienced crowds that didn't need to be told how to "crowd". And about drug use and stabbing other people, that's always been the case whether it gets reported or not.

Sucks to see he’s back performing with no consequences. A bunch of spineless cowards protected the punk from everything. It’s gonna happen again

the fact that you use PLAYBOI CARTI as an example of what should've happened is hilarious to me, shows how preventable this horrible situation was. RIP to those who passed on Friday

Just for some context. I am an EMT and I have worked at festivals like this. That “security cart” is what we call a Merv. Basically a heavy duty golf cart for medical staff. So, what you see there is a Merv most likely staffed with an EMT and a Paramedic who are TRYING to get to a patient that needs medical attention. I’ve seen crowds like this and it can crazy. Props to all emergency personal on and off duty trying to help. RIP to the victims and their families, my prayers to all the injured. Hopefully we can learn from this.

Man. Nearly two years on, and still the wound is raw from this disaster. Awful. And yeah it's been said a bunch of times - the general house rule of looking out for concertgoers in distress, on the part of both other attendees and musicians, should just be a thing. I've been to shows where I'm at the edge of a pit that's formed but not in it (and I can't really avoid it); I'm quite light and unsteady on my feet, I get smacked around easily, so I don't go in it typically. I've been knocked around pretty hard - not fallen over iirc but launched quite far by people moshing, sometimes into other people outside of the pit, or pinned against the front rail. I've had the people I've collided into check on me, I've had security at the show check on me and ask if I need water when it looked like I was about to pass out pinned against the rail (I was just a bit tired.) That should just be the norm, as I say. It's harder for a larger show, but that's all the more reason to take extra safety precautions. It's how you avoid people dying - and I have actually been to a show where someone died, because as I understand no one picked them up when they fell.

I saw Weezer with TBS and Blink in 2009 - Same deal. GA was over stuffed by about 1000 people. I was 16, my feet were literally off the ground for about 20 minutes due to the massive crowd. To this day, its the ONLY time Ive crowd surfed (To get out of the madness). It was scary as hell.