The latest news about Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival is a tragedy that has shaken the music industry and fans alike. And while news outlets can’t decide who to blame for the unforeseeable events of that day, we take a look back at history.
AP Photo
And what we found is that disasters of such kind are more likely to happen than artists and concert producers let on. From terrorist attacks to deadly fires, these are the worst concert disasters of all time.
Altamont Free Music Festival
On Dec. 8, 1969, in Altamont Speedway, Tracy, California festival organisers were getting ready to create the next ” Woodstock” – featuring the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Grateful Dead.
AP Photo
The weekend of peace and love turned into blood and anger when the security team called ” Hells Angels”, weren’t able to manage crowds and even resulted in the talent from the day getting hurt along with concert-goers.
What Happened At Altamont Free Music Festival
Trouble began early on the first day of the festival and never let up. As soon as Mick Jagger, a member of the Rolling Stones arrived a random concertgoer punched him in the face!
AP Photo
While another singer, David Crosby was stabbed in the leg multiple times by fans! But the real mess started when Dead decided not to take the stage due to the violence, audiences were left waiting for three hours in the open air.
The Tragedy At Altamont Free Music Festival
The already agitated audience only got more violent and multiple fights broke amongst people. When things were finally controlled by the Angels, Rolling Stones began their set to finally appease the crowds.
BBC
Everything was going smoothly for about a second when Eighteen-year-old Meredith Hunter decided to fight his way on the stage. He was beaten back by the security but Hunter pulled out a gun which forced an Angel to stab the 18-year-old five times in the back. Three other people also died that day — two in a hit-and-run accident and one by drowning in an irrigation canal.
John Davidson
On May 28, 1977, at the Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, Kentucky, John Davidson was scheduled to perform in a room of 1200 people but on the day, the club was also booked as a wedding venue.
AP Photo
In total, there were 3,500 people were in the building. 300 more than there should have been. No one knows exactly how it happened but just as the wedding party were getting ready to leave, a fire broke out in the building. The untrained employees also panicked leading to the exists getting bottlenecked. The building had no sprinklers or alarm system, tragically, 165 people perished in the blaze.
The Who
On Dec. 3, 1979, at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio The Who were ready to perform and fans had queued up for hours, even days to get their hands on tickets. In the 70s, tickets were sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.
AP Photo
As the band did their routine soundcheck before the performance, fans assumed that the concert was about to start. Worried that they would miss the band people rushed into the venue. In the chaos, eleven high school and college-age students were crushed to death. The worst part of all this, the concert managers, including the band and other audiences had no idea about the tragedy until the crowds dispersed!
Woodstock 99
On July 22–25, 1999, at Griffiss Air Force Base, Rome, New York again festival organizers tried to bring back the magic of the original Woodstock. With a great setlist, the festival had been sold out for months.
AP
Concert goers were expecting great music, a relaxed atmosphere and overall, were promised a once-in-a-lifetime event. Well, the event was pretty memorable but for all the wrong reasons.
What Happened At Woodstock 99
The event was scheduled in the hottest month of the year, July but concert-goers weren’t provided any shade and temperatures reached up to 100 degrees. It was so hot that the asphalt started melting and anyone who was camping on-site had to be evicted.
RadioX/Facebook
This created an overall hostile atmosphere, amongst the crowd which was exasperated by Vendors overcharging for water and food. Also, the toilets were not maintained by staff and started to overflow.
Tragedy At Woodstock 99
Things reached a breaking point during the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ performance. The audiences members lit fires at both stages using plastic water bottles and bits of the stage. They looted ATMs, trucks and media equipment.
Esquire
Several instances of rape and sexual assault were reported in the festival’s aftermath. One person, who collapsed in the mosh pit during Metallica’s set, died of heatstroke. All this ensured that festival organisers would never try to arrange another Woodstock ever again.
Roskilde Festival
On June 30, 2000, at Roskilde, Denmark Pearl Jam was ready to perform to an audience of 50,000 strong. The management had done their job to ensure that security was tight and everything was done in an orderly fashion.
Bill Ebbesen/WIkipedia
What they couldn’t have predicted was that the audience would surge forward, causing a “wave”. People fell and in the mayhem, they couldn’t get up. Despite the band refusing to play and asking people to step back – it was too late. Nine people were killed, and 26 were injured in the crash.
Great White
On Feb. 20, 2003, at The Station, West Warwick, Rhode Island Jack Russell’s Great White was in full swing. The space had 460 audience members, 60 more than it was legal but despite that, the security and management had handled everything efficiently.
AP Photo
Until tour manager Daniel Biechele decided to set off four large fireworks! Without proper separation, the fireworks ended up causing a fire on stage. As the flames spread, people began to panic and tried to run for safety. Sadly, the exit became bottlenecked. One hundred people died, and another 150 were injured due to being crushed, burned, or by smoke inhalation.
Callejeros
On Dec. 30, 2004, at República Cromañón, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3000 people came to see Callejeros at a venue with had a capacity of only 1500. Despite the overcrowding, the set went as planned until a pyrotechnic flare from an audience member started a fire.
frecuenciazerofm/Facebook
The decorations made of wood, styrofoam, and plastic netting spread the flames. Four of the exits had been chained shut to make sure no one got in without paying but now with the fire blazing, there was so escape. One hundred and ninety-four people died, and about 1,500 were injured. The worst part was that many victims were children.
Damageplan
On Dec. 8, 2004, at Alrosa Villa, Columbus, Ohio during Damageplan’s opening song a former police officer and marine, Nathan Gale opened fire into the crowd. He shot and killed guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others.
Paul Soth/Wikipedia
He was taken down by another officer, James Niggemeyer. Gale still had 35 rounds of ammunition left on him when he died. His motives are unclear but the officer suffered from PTSD.
Burn
On Jan. 1, 2009, a fire started at the Santika Club in Bangkok, Thailand. Lax building regulations and fire safety wreaked havoc to the 1000 audience members that were there to see the band Burn play.
chuckapple/Facebook
There was only one exit that had stayed open. The others had been locked to prevent robberies. 66 people died and 222 were injured from burns, smoke inhalation, burns and crushing.
Love Parade Festival
On July 24, 2010, at Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany a free music festival was running smoothly as it had since 1989. With up to 1.4 million people attending, security was as always tight and everything was very organized.
AP Photo
But this year, the festival was organized at a closed-off location with only a long tunnel as the main entrance and exit into the venue. Crowds desperate to get into the space started pushing and a crush ensued. Twenty-one people died, and over 500 were injured.
Sugarland
On Aug. 13, 2011, at Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, Indiana Fans were waiting for the country band, Sugarland to play when the weather took a dark turn. The fairground was barreled with high winds.
tedatind/Facebook
Heavy equipment got overturned as well as the scaffolding into the packed audience. Seven people died, and dozens were injured. An investigation revealed that fair officials had not properly prepared the space for high winds as it was legally expected them to do.
Eagles of Death Metal
On November 13, 2015, at Bataclan Theatre, Paris, France The Eagles of Death Metal were playing the Bataclan to a crowd of about 1,500. In the middle of the set, terrorists stormed inside the venue wielding weapons and wearing suicide vests.
AP Photo
The band and managers ran for their own lives leaving behind the audience undefended. Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, Samy Amimour, 28, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23, murdered 90 people in the venue.
Ariana Grande
On May 22, 2017, at Manchester Arena, Manchester, England just as Arina Grande was finishing her final song, a suicide bomber detonated an explosion in the venue. The terrorist organisation ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
7NewsAustralia/Facebook
The terrorist, Salman Abedi, died at the scene. His younger brother, Hashem Abedi, was charged and convicted on 22 counts of murder instead. 22 people died that day and hundreds were injured, many of them children.
Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival
On Oct. 1, 2017, at Las Vegas Village, Las Vegas, Nevada the annual Route 91 Country Music Festival was going as planned. Despite the festival having tight security, a lone gunman managed to wreak havoc.
AP Photo
64-year old Stephen Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay Casino and from his room from the 32nd-floor suite, he opened fired down on the concert crowd below. He fired more than 1,000 bullets into the crowd, killing 60 people. Paddock killed himself before authorities got him and we still do not know his motives.
Astroworld
On Nov. 5, 2021, at NRG Park, Houston, Texas Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival was a complete hit. Over 50,000 people were jammed pack waiting for the rapper to give his much-awaited performance.
Amy Harris/Invision/AP Photo
In a bid to see the rapper better, people started pushing and in the mayhem, many people fainted. Later we found out that audience members tried to get help from organizers of the festival but they were ignored.
What Happened At Astroworld
When finally, first responders were called to the scene, Travis Scott never stopped playing music and made it all the more impossible for them to provide assistance. No one exactly knows the cause of the sudden crowd surge.
Amy Harris/Invision/AP Photo
There are allegations that a security guard was intentionally injected with a drug. Eighth people died, and hundreds were injured at the concert. Travis Scott himself had released a lot of backlash over how he handled the situation and several lawsuits have been filed against the venue company as well as the rapper.