How other musicians have handled overcrowding and safety concerns at shows

By Leah Asmelash, CNN

The tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival left eight people dead and dozens injured, as the crowd surged during the rapper’s set.

The crowd at the Friday night show in Houston was so packed that when audience members were pushed toward the stage, some told CNN that they were crushed to the point where they couldn’t breathe and passed out. Others were trampled, as calls for help were drowned out by the music.

Concertgoers told CNN that Scott stopped the show at least three times to ask for help for concertgoers in the crowd, though some have criticized the artist and organizers for allowing it to continue. A criminal investigation of the tragedy is now in its early stages.

Scott and his partner Kylie Jenner, who was in attendance at the Houston show, have stated in separate social media posts that they are devastated by the tragedy.

Jenner said both she and Scott didn’t know what was happening in the crowd at the time.

“I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing,” she wrote.

Similar situations have erupted at concerts in the past — here’s how artists have asked crowds to stay safe.

Linkin Park

When members of the band Linkin Park noticed that multiple people in the mosh pit at their show had fallen during one of their shows, they stopped playing, according to a video of the years-old incident shared on Twitter over the weekend.

“We got to look out for safety first, for real. Nobody gets hurt. That’s number one,” said Mike Shinoda in the video.

“We know we’ve been stressing all night about being cool, and this is the reason why,” Chester Bennington said in the clip. “Let’s go over it one more time: When someone falls, what do you do?”

“Pick them up,” the crowd yelled back.

Dave Grohl

Another clip going viral in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy is one of Dave Grohl, who was seen stopping a Foo Fighters show in 2018 when he noticed a child who appeared to need a seat. It was later revealed that the child was blind and autistic.

“Hold on one second,” Grohl said, pausing and pointing at someone in the crowd. “Does that kid need somewhere to sit?”

Grohl then invited the child and his parents to sit at the edge of the stage.

Slayer

In 2018, metal band Slayer were opening their final tour in San Diego, California, when the concert was paused due to the size of the crowd. Audience members were instructed to clear the aisles for safety reasons.

As fans booed the instructions, Tom Araya asked fans to cooperate.

“We live in a society of rules. But these rules are for your safety,” he told the crowd. “They need to have cleared aisles so when something does happen, everybody has an exit, okay.”

The show eventually continued.

ASAP Rocky

At a Rolling Loud performance in 2019, ASAP Rocky stopped a performance mid-set when he noticed some people had fallen.

“Everybody back up, look. Watch out,” he begins. “Pick the girls up, bro. Pick the girls up!!! Pick the f***ing girls up, what’s wrong with y’all.”

The rapper continued yelling at the crowd to “back up” and “calm down” before he began performing again.

Playboi Carti

At Playboi Carti’s Lollapalooza set this summer in Chicago, organizers came onstage to halt the rapper’s performance, saying people were passing out — information Carti immediately relayed to the fans, in a video posted after the Astroworld incident.

“They telling me it’s a lot of people passing out. They keep stopping my music because people are passing out. I care about you guys’ safety first,” he said, as organizers continued to give him more information. “Everybody take three steps back and we can start the music right away.”

Some social media users drew comparisons to Carti’s set, saying that the organizers at Astroworld should have forced a stop like they did at Lollapalooza.

At another Playboi Carti show over the weekend, held after the tragedy at Astroworld, a safety warning was given to concertgoers ahead of the show, according to a video posted on TikTok.

“If you guys do not follow the rules, if you guys jump over to the floor, if you guys do anything that they consider dangerous, not one, not two, but just one person messing up, this show is over,” the loudspeaker announcement said before Carti’s appearance. “We are fighting, we are convincing them to let us do this show for you, but this show now, if it happens, it is on you. So please, let’s have a good time and be respectful.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.