By Mikayla Shults
Friday, November 5, 2021 Travis Scott was preparing for his Astroworld concert in Houston. He had encouraged reckless behavior from his fans before, and did the same that night. According to CNN, about 50,000 people attended the concert. People brought their friends and spouses and children. When the crowd broke past the barriers and ran toward the stage, everyone in front of them was pushed, trampled, or crushed. Eight people died; two of which were minors. There were countless injuries and video evidence of people in the crowd trying to get attention from anyone who could help. This went on for 30-40 minutes before the concert was stopped. Travis Scott is a very influential rapper for teens, so I went to them to ask how they felt about the fatal event.
Grace
Age 16
Short answer, yes. While Travis can’t directly control the actions of his fans, it’s not uncommon for Travis Scott concerts to become out of control, leaving people injured; some examples being the 2015 lollapalooza festival where he was charged with reckless conduct or the 2017 show in Arkansas where he was arrested for telling fans to bypass security and rush the stage. There was even a case where Travis encouraged a man to jump off the upper balcony of one of his shows, leaving the man paralyzed after other fans had shoved him off. So, it’s obvious that Travis has the ability to sway the actions of the people in his crowd, he just chooses not to use it to his fans’ benefit. In response to what happened at the recent Astroworld festival fatalities, Travis claimed he didn’t recognize the severity of the situation he was faced with in the crowd; however there’s footage of him pointing out an ambulance and later on pointing out someone unconscious in the crowd after the event had already been declared a “mass casualty event”. That apparently didn’t register to Travis as being “severe”, as he continued the show for 40 minutes after he noticed the ambulance. There have been so many cases of bands stopping shows unprovoked to help fans in the crowd, some examples being Nirvana, Hatebreed and Rage Against the Machine. The fact that Travis continued his set for as long as he did, despite evidence showing at least half of his crowd start yelling “help” or “stop the show” 30 minutes before he ended, shows me that it wasn’t a lack of awareness for what was genuinely going down in the crowd, it was a lack of concern for his fans. If Travis made the conscious decision to stop his set prior to when he did and/or point out the unacceptable behavior going on in the sea of people below him, I can say with 99% confidence that there wouldn’t be as many fatalities as what the night ended with and those people would’ve been able to get the help they deserved.
Narissa
Age 18
Absolutely. Although much of the responsibility falls on management and the organizers as well, Travis Scott intentionally fostered an unsafe environment. Footage shows that he both encouraged the audience to jump barricades and break safety regulations, and continued the show while people were being seriously harmed. Shows are going to get a bit out of control, that’s part of the experience, and typically the artist helps to encourage that. But it also lies with the artist, and the event’s organizers, to ensure it doesn’t go too far, and to have a plan in case it does. Astroworld had none of those things and that intentional negligence resulted in horrifying deaths and injuries that never should have happened.
Braelyn
Age 16
I think that he should absolutely take some accountability. Though the events at astroworld were out of his control, he didn’t attempt to stop the concert so he owes it to his fans to take responsibility.
Ava
Age 16
On November 5, in Houston, Texas, Travis Scott was performing at the Astroworld Festival when a total of 10 people in the crowd died.
There were numerous reasons to what happened and what could have caused it, but mainly the fact being that these crowd goers collapsed on the ground after the crowd surged forward towards the stage.
In the past, these vigorous attitudes have been encouraged by Travis Scott himself, but only to fulfill the desire of an all-around good time.
So the question is, of course, who is responsible for these sudden deaths?
Arguably, Scott’s fans should take responsibility; they attended the concert in the first place and were prepared to be among people who might not make the best choices. They should know that concerts are not for the weak—they include a number of smokers and mentally ill people as well as music fans. To add on, research from The Wall Street Journal states that Travis Scott himself was not aware of the crowd chaos and that he did not know until well after the show was over. He had headed to an arcade area and was informed then, and reports say that he fled immediately.
Had he not encouraged the crowd in this intense behavior, perhaps it wouldn’t have acted so lively, but he is not responsible for his fans’ actions. Many of the attendees were said to have taken drugs, which was entirely their choice. Scott was simply there to perform, but it was the crowds’ bad choices that caused these tragic deaths to occur.
There was another instance where Scott had completely paused his show in Housten to inform everyone that a member had gone unconscious, and continued to check on the crowd to make sure everyone was alright. This, in itself, is evidence that Scott cares about his fans on a deeper level.
Furthermore, Scott and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, sent out a post on Instagram informing millions of people that “their thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, and that they are broken and devastated…” She also mentioned just how much Scott cares about his fans, and that “in no world would they have continued performing [in this situation]…”
In the future, perhaps Scott could organize his concerts in a safer manner, so as to avoid a recurring situation in the future, such as a bigger area with less tickets, so generally less people would be allowed to come. As it is, concerts are relatively not a safe event, but in order for Scott to continue performing, there are some precautions he could take. Softer speakers, for instance, could be another helpful tip, so that Scott and other security officers are able to hear any possible cries of help from the crowd.
In conclusion, in this specific situation, Travis Scott was not responsible for the actions of the crowd. There was no proof of his being guilty, and he did all that he could once informed to send his condolences and concerns.
