Astroworld under fire as promotional video showing chaos at past gigs remains online after eight killed
The promo video features a montage of clips from the 2019 festival where three fans were hospitalised following a stampede
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Your support makes all the difference.Travis Scott and the organizers of Astroworld have come under fire after a promotional video showing chaos at the last festival has surfaced in the aftermath of Friday’s tragedy.
The video, which was posted on Astroworld Festival’s official Instagram account on 5 May to drum up interest in the 2021 event, features a montage of clips which appear to celebrate the rowdiness of the crowds at the 2019 festival which also left some fans in hospital.
Attendees are seen stampeding through the gates into the event, storming over the metal security barricades and pushing each other in a mosh pit.
The video has come to light as survivors and victims’ families demand answers over what led to Friday’s deadly incident.
Eight people were killed and hundreds more were injured in the terrifying crush as the crowd surged during rapper and event organizer Mr Scott’s headline performance.
This came after the 2019 festival also resulted in injuries, with three fans taken to hospital with leg injuries after being trampled by fellow attendees.
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The promo video, which includes both clips of news coverage and smartphone video, begins with footage of fans lining up behind metal barricades outside of the festival grounds.
“Astroworld fest is in full swing, but now with extra security,” says the voice of what appears to be a news anchor.
The crowd is heard roaring before some people appear to leap over the fencing and run toward the grounds.
“We want to show you what it looked like when the festival opened its doors today,” the voice of another news anchor says.
Fans are seen running through the entrance into the festival before cutting to other clips of the crowds packed in at the festival stage.
In various clips, fans are seen shoving each other, being pressed up against metal barricades, dancing packed in together and leaping on top of the crowds.
The video ends by promoting the 2021 event on 5 and 6 November.
Mr Scott originally posted the video on Twitter on 13 November 2019 after the 2019 event.
“THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT PULLED UP TO RAGE !!!!” he captioned the video.
Social media users have reacted with horror at the promo video and accused the organizers of glorifying chaos at their events.
“But Travis Scott celebrated his fans ripping down barriers and stampeding to the stage,” one person tweeted on Saturday.
“The promo for Astroworld 2021 encouraged trespassing,” another person added.
The video appears to have since been taken down from the festival’s official YouTube page but is still on both the festival’s Instagram account and Mr Scott’s Twitter.
The Independent has reached out to Astroworld Festival for comment.
Mr Scott has earned a reputation for encouraging his fans to “rage” at his shows.
Extra law enforcement and security officials had been drafted in for the 2021 event in part because of this reputation - but were still unable to stop the tragic events unfolding.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner was said to be especially concerned because the event came off the back of the pandemic when live concerts were put on pause and because Mr Scott was known for encouraging his crowd to be energetic.
The police chief personally warned Mr Scott about crowd control just hours before the tragedy unfolded, according to the New York Times.
Mr Scott has been convicted of misdemeanours twice for urging the crowd to rush the stage at past concerts in 2015 and 2017.
Investigations are now underway to try to determine what led to the deaths of the eight victims, who were aged between 14 and 27 years old.
Meanwhile, lawsuits are already mounting against Mr Scott who both organized the festival and was performing at the time of the crush.
Astroworld is a music festival launched by Mr Scott back in 2018 on the former site of the Six Flags Astroworld amusement park in the rapper’s hometown of Houston.
It was named after his album released that year with the original line-up featuring other artists including, as well as Mr Scott, Post Malone, Metro Boomin and Lil Wayne.
The annual event was put on pause last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Friday kickstarting the third festival.
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