Kenya Insights

Tag: Astroworld

  • Travis Scott And Drake Sued Over Deadly Texas Concert Crush That Killed 8

    Travis Scott And Drake Sued Over Deadly Texas Concert Crush That Killed 8

    • Lawsuits have been filed against Travis Scott, as well as Drake who joined Scott’s headline set, after a crowd surge killed eight people at an Astroworld concert on Friday.
    • A criminal investigation has been opened into the tragedy, with both homicide and narcotics detectives.
    • One victim who managed to survive, 21-year-old concertgoer Noah Gutierrez, described “a scene of chaos and desperation”.

    (AFP)-Rappers Travis Scott and Drake have been sued for having “incited mayhem” after eight people were killed and dozens injured in a crush during a Texas concert, a law firm confirmed on Sunday.

    Texas firm Thomas J. Henry Law on Sunday tweeted a story published by the Daily Mail on the suit, confirming it had filed “one of the first lawsuits in Travis Scott Astroworld Festival tragedy”.

    The plaintiff is 23-year-old concertgoer Kristian Paredes, who was one of those “severely injured” at the concert on the night of 5 November.

    Around 50 000 people were in the audience at Houston’s NRG Park when the crowd started pushing toward the stage as Scott was performing, triggering chaotic scenes.

    Texas-resident Paredes, who is also suing concert organisers Live Nation and the venue, “felt an immediate push” at the front of the general admission section as Travis Scott got on stage, the complaint said.

    “The crowd became chaotic and a stampede began,” it went on.

    “Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help, but were ignored.”

    The suit, filed in Houston’s Harris County court, claims Scott “had incited mayhem and chaos at prior events” and that “defendants knew or should have known of (Scott’s) prior conduct”.

    The suit also accuses Canadian rap superstar Drake, who joined Scott’s headline set, of contributing to causing the surge toward the stage.

    Travis Scott ‘absolutely devastated’ by deaths at Astroworld festival

    Travis Scott has said he is “absolutely devastated” after at least eight people died and others were injured at his Astroworld music festival. The rapper was on stage at the event in Houston, Texas on Friday when the crowd surged forward in what …

    “As Drake came onstage alongside of Travis Scott he helped incite the crowd even though he knew of Travis Scott’s prior conduct,” the complaint charges.

    He continued to perform even as the “crowd became out of control” and the “crowd mayhem continued,” it added.

    Struggle to breathe

    High-profile attorney Ben Crump announced Sunday he had also filed suit against Scott and Astroworld.

    Crump specialises in civil rights and personal injury, and has represented clients including the families of victims of police violence George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

    He and co-counsel Bob Hilliard filed suit Sunday on behalf of 21-year-old concertgoer Noah Gutierrez, who described “a scene of chaos and desperation”.

    The lawyers said they expected to file suit on behalf of other concertgoers during the week.

    “We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced – the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them,” Crump and Hilliard said in the statement.

    “We urge others who suffered physical or emotional injury or witnessed the events of that day to contact us.”

    Survivors of the incident described chaotic scenes of people squeezed up against one another, with many struggling to breathe.

    Scott, who launched the Astroworld music festival in 2018, reportedly halted his act several times when he saw fans in distress near the stage.

    Authorities in Texas have opened a criminal investigation into the tragedy, involving both homicide and narcotics detectives, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner told reporters on Saturday.

    Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said authorities were looking at video footage and talking to witnesses, concert organisers and people who were hospitalised.

    He told reporters on Saturday that the eight people killed were aged from 14 to 27, with one person’s age unknown.

    The chaos also resulted in 25 people being transported to the hospital and more than 300 people being treated on the scene for minor injuries.

  • Travis Scott’s Fun-Filled And High Energy Concert Turns Tragic

    Travis Scott’s Fun-Filled And High Energy Concert Turns Tragic

    (AP) — Travis Scott’s high-energy performances are known for being chaotic and fun-filled shows with concertgoers encouraged to take part in a raucous nature involving mosh pits, crowd surfing and stage diving.

    Welcome to Scott’s Astroworld Festival — where concertgoers can become their rebellious selves.

    Tragically, the Grammy-nominated rapper’s energetic show this time turned deadly after at least eight people — between the ages of 14 and 27 — were killed during a crowd surge at his music festival in Houston on Friday evening. A sizable group of the 50,000 in attendance pushed toward the stage at NRG Park as a timer clicked down to start the performance before the chaotic scene began to ignite.

    People in the crowd reported lots of pushing and shoving during the performances leading up to Scott’s set — which is normal at his shows. He’s often encouraged fans to bypass security and rush the stage, but none of those previous situations resulted in fatalities.

    “Travis Scott’s whole aesthetic is about rebellion,” said HipHopDX editor-in-chief Trent Clark, who has attended several of his performances. “The shows have a lot of raging. With the death of punk rock, hip-hop has indeed adopted and patterned the new generation of mosh pits. It’s not uncommon to see a lot of crowding and raging or complete wild behavior at a Travis Scott show.”

    Scott is an eight-time Grammy-nominated rapper who is music’s biggest young stars. The Houston-born musician founded his festival in 2018 on the heels of his chart-topping album “Astroworld,” which was led by the infectious song “Sicko Mode.” He also has a 3-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner, who announced in September that she is pregnant with their second child.

    “Travis Scott is legendary in the hip-hop community for his beyond high-energy performances, where he really tries to rile up the crowd,” said Noah Shachtman, editor-in-chief at Rolling Stone. “That makes for some really fun shows and made for a couple of scary incidents.”

    In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was “absolutely devastated by what took place last night.” He pledged to work “together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.”

    Travis Scott performs at Astroworld Festival at NRG park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 in Houston. Several people died and numerous others were injured in what officials described as a surge of the crowd at the music festival in while Scott was performing. Officials declared a “mass casualty incident” just after 9 p.m. Friday during the festival where an estimated 50,000 people were in attendance, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told reporters at a news conference.(Jamaal Ellis/Houston Chronicle via AP)

    No matter where the investigation ultimately leads, tragedies like the one at the Astroworld Festival have been happening for a long time. In 1979, 11 people died in a scramble to enter a Cincinnati, Ohio, concert by The Who. At a soccer stadium in England, a human crush in 1989 led to nearly 100 deaths. In 2015, a collision of two crowds at the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia caused more than 2,400 deaths, based on an Associated Press count of media reports and officials’ comments.

    But with Scott getting into trouble before for the two past shows, Shachtman thinks the rapper will get a “hard second look.”

    In 2017, Scott was arrested after he encouraged fans to bypass security and rush the stage, leaving a security guard, a police officer and several others injured during a concert in Arkansas. In a separate incident, he was sentenced to one year of court supervision after pleading guilty to reckless conduct charges stemming from a 2015 incident in Chicago at the Lollapalooza music festival.

    At the time, Chicago officials said Scott encouraged fans to vault security barricades. However, no one was injured.

    “In terms of energy, he wants the energy he’s giving out on stage to be reciprocated from the audience, almost in defiance,” said Julian Kimble, who wrote a concert review on Scott’s 2018 Astroworld performance for the Washington Post. He called the rapper one of the most electrifying performers he’s seen.

    “I’ve seen him tell people like ‘Don’t listen to security. Forget security. This is for y’all. This is for the fans,’” he continued. “With regards to last night, that’s an example of how things can go wrong. There’s a lot of negligence across the board. I don’t think there’s one bad guy or culprit. It’s a sweeping structural failure with what happened.”

    Shachtman said he hopes the tragedy will help tweak Scott’s approach toward his show. He enjoys the rapper’s performances but wants a safer atmosphere where people can still have fun — especially for those eager to find some enjoyment at live shows during the pandemic.

    “I would expect that they’ll be increased measures to make sure concertgoers can have a great time, but do so without getting killed,” said Shachtman, who grew up on New York hardcore punk rock music. He said that he’s no stranger to mosh pits, but he adds that “there’s a big difference between a mosh pit, even a giant one, and a life-threating situation.”

    Scott is a scheduled headliner for the Day N Vegas Festival next weekend. But any performance involving Scott could come under some scrutiny for crowd control measures and other safety concerns.

    “Concert promoters pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for security at both private and public (events),” Shachtman said. “That’s got to be deployed properly. Or else, we’re going to see another one of these incidents.”