I would like to preface this column by saying that I have never been a big fan of Travis Scott. That being said, I don’t think the tragedy that occurred at his festival on Nov. 5 was entirely his fault.

Ten concert-goers have died to injuries sustained during a crowd rush of approximately 50,000 while Scott was doing his headline performance at the Astroworld festival in Houston, a festival Scott himself founded. 

Some injured remained in the hospital, according to various family members who have kept constant updates on social media. The main controversy that has befallen Scott was not only his seeming neglect of injured fans but the ignorance of the entire situation.

Many viral videos and news outlets have shown Scott’s decision to continue performing while medical professionals were attempting aid to injured individuals. Not only that, EMTs attempted to evacuate dead, dying and other injured individuals but were hampered by the large crowds. 

Videos from social media show fans even jumping onto ambulances and other medical transports as they try to move through the crowd. Scott continues to be under fire for this because many attempts were made by the crowd to stop his performance to calm down the excited crowd for EMTs to effectively perform their jobs. But Scott continued to perform.

All that being said, I do say that Scott is not the only one to blame for the tragedy. I imagine performing in front of a large crowd can be fairly distorting. But Scott should have had other people who could’ve stepped in to help the situation. I haven’t been able to find much on security details for the event. 

As someone who has been to many concerts and festivals in my life, I know there had to have been some form of security who would’ve been able to clear crowd space or been able to relay a message directly to those close to Scott who could’ve stopped the show. I just can’t imagine how many people have the ability to get up on stage and tell Scott exactly what was going on even if he wasn’t aware of himself.

Even if Scott wasn’t aware of it himself, there have been many videos that have come up showcasing musicians stopping their show when they notice a fan getting injured. Some show the musicians stopping the show themselves, or having a crew member or member of the security come onto the stage to notify them. Something that could have easily been done in Astroworld.

Out of all the festivals I’ve been to, if you need help, all you have to do is ask. I’ve never seen anybody stop the performance but if you ask security to get you out, they will get you out. I’ve been to some wild festivals in my day and have never had anyone leave seriously injured or dead. Safety is the top priority of many concertgoers, festival workers and musicians.

To those 10 who died, my heart and many others go out to you and your family.

Names and ages of those who died as a result of injuries sustained at Astroworld:

John Hilgert, 14

Brianna Rodriguez, 16

Jacob Jurinek, 20

Franco Patino, 21

Axel Acosta, 21

Bharti Shahani, 22

Rodolfo Pena, 23

Madison Dubiski, 23

Danish Baig, 27

Ezra Blount, 9

 

Jack R. Jordan is a reporter with The Moultrie Observer.