The Chilling Details About Travis Scott's Many Dangerous Concerts
The world is still trying to grapple with the aftermath of the devastating Astroworld tragedy. On Friday, November 5, at Travis Scott's Astroworld music festival in Houston, Texas, eight people were killed and hundreds more were injured after the crowd rushed the stage during the rapper's set. The New York Times declared it "one of the deadliest crowd-control disasters" to happen at a music event since The Who concert disaster in 1979, which left 11 people dead.
What triggered the stampede remains unknown, but the incident continues to undergo careful investigation. "This incident is being thoroughly investigated and reviewed. We're trying to get a much better understanding of what took place, what went wrong, where were the missteps," Houston's Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a press briefing, per The Wall Street Journal. "This is now a criminal investigation that's going to involve our homicide division, as well as narcotics," added Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. "We're going to get down to the bottom of it."
Authorities are saying that, had the event been appropriately managed, the incident would likely not have happened. But the tragedy also shed light on Scott's history of inciting chaos at concerts.
Travis Scott often encourages 'raging' at his concerts
Part of the appeal of Travis Scott's concerts and sets are their high-end productions and overly excited crowds. It's thanks to what he calls "raging," which involves stage diving and crowd surfing, as well as creating mosh pits. "The way he interacts with his crowd, he's one of the only artists that when he comes on, he can vibe with every single person," one fan said on his Netflix documentary, "Travis Scott: Look Mom I Can Fly," per The New York Times. "You can fall and everyone will pick you up. It's weird how one person's music can turn everyone into such a family."
In a 2015 GQ feature aptly titled "How to Rage With Travis Scott," the "Sicko Mode" rapper also shared how his goal is to make his concerts "feel like it was the WWF." "Raging and, you know, having fun and expressing good feelings is something that I plan on doing and spreading across the globe," Scott said. "We don't like people that just stand — whether you're Black, white, brown, green, purple, yellow, blue, we don't want you standing around."
It's commendable how he values interaction amongst his fans, but this propensity for raging has gotten him in trouble with the law multiple times in the past.
Travis Scott has faced legal trouble for inciting chaos before
Travis Scott's continuous encouragement of rowdiness in his concerts has landed him in legal trouble on multiple occasions. At Lollapalooza in 2015, Scott was arrested for encouraging fans to jump the barriers and rush the stage. "Middle finger up to security right now!" he said at the time, according to Rolling Stone. "We want rage!" His set got shut down after a few minutes, but amid the stampede, a 15-year-old girl was trampled, per Billboard. He then pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to one year probation.
It seemed like no lesson was learned the first time around because, in 2017, he was arrested once again after performing a show in Arkansas. According to AP News, the rapper pleaded guilty to charges of "inciting a riot, disorderly conduct and endangering the welfare of a minor." Just like what happened in Lollapalooza, he encouraged fans to defy security and rush the stage. The incident resulted in injuries involving a security guard and a police offer, though their conditions were not disclosed.
Fast forward to May 2021, just after tickets to Astroworld sold out, and Scott once again showed defiance to authority in a since-deleted tweet. "NAW AND WE STILL SNEAKING THE WILD ONES IN!!!!" he said at the time. At this point, only time will tell whether or not Scott will put a stop to the raging culture he once perpetuated.