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In November 2021, the third installment of the Astroworld Music Festival took place in Houston, Texas – hometown of rap sensation Travis Scott. Travis had a deep connection to the Six Flags AstroWorld theme park in Houston, which shut down in 2005, inspiring him to name his six-time platinum certified 2018 album after it and hosting the first festival near the former amusement park site. With the 2020 event being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Astroworld 2021 was eagerly anticipated as a larger spectacle than its two predecessors. The festival duration was extended from one day to two, aiming to bring together tens of thousands of young fans who had been deprived of live concerts since the pandemic started.

Kaia Redus characterizes the festival in Netflix’s “Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy” as a place without worries or concerns, but unfortunately, it transformed into a dangerous site that resulted in 10 fatalities and left hundreds injured, with the youngest victim being just nine years old.

Sophia Santana, another survivor, expresses her eagerness and conviction as she states, “It was an event you wouldn’t want to skip, and I knew it would be a blast.” The upcoming full-length documentary, launching on June 10, marks the beginning of a weekly series delving into major incident fallouts that grabbed attention, led to corporate scandals, and frequently resulted in loss of life. Led by Yemi Bamiro, the film incorporates survivor interviews and specialist opinions, along with footage captured by concertgoers’ phones to illustrate how such a catastrophic crowd surge occurred during Travis Scott’s headlining act and the events that followed.

What led to the deaths at Astroworld?

The Astroworld Festival was arranged by LiveNation, America’s leading live event promoter, who seized the opportunity to market Scott’s “rager” image when Astroworld made its comeback. As portrayed in “The Astroworld Tragedy“, fans rushing the fences to enter the 2019 Astroworld festival were utilized for promotional purposes. Kirby Gladstein, a returning photographer at the event, recalls that they were encouraged to emphasize the chaotic nature of Scott’s performances. Gladstein is willing to share her insights on the atmosphere at the festival and how things got out of control, attributing the blame primarily to LiveNation. “They wield immense power over this industry,” says Gladstein. “By discussing what happened at Astroworld, I understand that I’m risking my career.” (No LiveNation representative is featured in the documentary, although their responses are included as text at the end of the film, and they blame SMG Global and the Houston Fire Department for setting the venue’s sellable capacity, as well as stating all involved parties were aware of event plans and safety protocols. The company issued their only statement regarding the tragedy the day after it occurred, in 2021.)

Interviews with safety expert Scott Davidson, paramedic Jose Villegas, and security guards Jackson and Samuel Bush, who were newly hired for the event, reveal the inadequate preparations that likely led to the high death toll at Astroworld Festival. Throughout the day, the mainstage stood empty, allowing fans to congregate there for extended periods under the scorching Houston sun. This also resulted in a massive influx of fans moving towards the headline act from the same direction simultaneously, which set the stage for crowd surges. On the left side of the stage, spectators were channeled directly into a pen that intensified the pressure on attendees against barriers with no available escape route.

9 p.m. marked Scott’s entrance on stage, and the situation deteriorated rapidly; the saddest footage of the Astroworld Tragedy comes from videos filmed inside the crowd, capturing fans being suffocated and trampled in real-time as Scott’s performance continued unabated in the background. Although Scott later admitted to noticing some fainting and turmoil, he claimed he was unaware of the full extent of the crisis.

How did Astroworld organizers respond to the crisis?

“Stop the show! Stop the show! Stop the show!” shout fans as Scott introduces a guest onstage.

Even though the crowd was shouting for assistance and trying to reach restricted zones to appeal to authorities, and even after multiple calls to the police, the concert continued for an extra hour beyond when Scott took the stage. Upon analysis (and consulting additional experts in crowd safety to confirm this), Davidson found that one of the primary issues with the event was that only two people had been given the power to halt the concert if it became hazardous. However, as Davidson pointed out, “any crucial decision-maker […] should have been able to promptly initiate a stop process – ideally, just a matter of pushing a button.

As crash survivors struggled to catch their breath and maintain an upright position, Santana vividly remembers thinking, “Stay on your feet or you might not be able to get back up.

10 o’clock approached with a chaotic and devastating pace, and according to Davidson, this was reflected in the dialogue between a LiveNation manager and the audio engineer, who had direct communication with Scott on stage. The manager said, “We currently have four CPR procedures ongoing. Two of these might not survive. This is extremely grave. I’ve never seen so many victims of a crowd crush in my 25-year career.

Mark Lentini, who previously led the Houston Police, attributes the Astroworld tragedy more to the festival organizers’ mismanagement rather than the police response. He highlights that the disorderly behavior such as unauthorized entry and fence jumping was something a well-prepared festival team should have foreseen. However, some people view it differently; according to Davidson, as the situation became increasingly critical, the Houston Police and LiveNation decided to keep the concert going for Drake’s performance on stage to prevent “panic in the crowd.

Davidson emphasizes that the notion of a show going on when someone is receiving CPR, let alone more than one instance, is mind-boggling and unheard of.

What was the aftermath?

The reactions towards Travis Scott’s remarks about the Astroworld tragedy were perceived as insincere by numerous survivors and relatives of the victims, who emotionally recalled the distressing moments when they learned about deaths at hospitals and reunion centers. Since then, Astroworld, Scott has barely commented on the incident, but his song “My Eyes” from his 2023 album titled Utopia offers a glimpse into his viewpoint of the event, with lyrics like, “If they just knew what Scotty would do to leap off the stage and save a child.” Besides Utopia, Scott has also released a companion film called Circus Maximus, and is almost finishing a world tour—however, Astroworld has yet to return since 2021. A grand jury chose not to indict anyone criminally for the tragedy, and the families of victims received settlements outside of court for lawsuits filed against Scott and LiveNation.

After the Astroworld tragedy, LiveNation has encountered numerous legal hurdles. These include a lawsuit by the Department of Justice for alleged monopolization in the music industry, a lawsuit from the family of an artist who was killed backstage at one of their festivals, and criticism over their strict arbitration policies. The Netflix documentary sheds light on the events surrounding the Astroworld crowd crush, but it leaves unsettling questions unanswered: Why didn’t anyone intervene? Could it happen again?

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2025-06-10 16:06

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