“I imagine Astroworld 2021 was not an accident,” crowd security professional Scott Davidson says throughout the brand new Netflix documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. “It was an inevitability as a result of lack of foresight and the abandonment of primary security protocols.” Davidson’s professional breakdown is just one of many insights the documentary presents into what occurred on November fifth, 2021, when Travis Scott’s headlining Astroworld Competition efficiency in Houston, Texas led to the deaths of 10 individuals.
The most recent movie within the Trainwreck sequence (which has additionally explored Woodstock ’99 and the notorious “poop cruise”) begins by taking a second to remind the viewer about the place we as a tradition had been in 2021 — simply beginning to re-enter the world post-lockdown. It’s that power that amplifies the joy round Scott’s efficiency that day, an power that introduced a various group of individuals to the occasion. A lot of whom discovered themselves preventing to outlive due to the huge crowds in attendance.
Watching Trainwreck actually offers you an appreciation of how troublesome it’s to handle massive crowds of individuals safely — an essential duty, given the lives in danger from compression asphyxia. Lives like these of concertgoers Rodolfo Peña and Brianna Rodriguez, whose family members are interviewed within the documentary, their grief palpable over their loss. Under are the largest revelations from the documentary, which is a tragic watch, however a strong one.
50,000 Tickets Had been Offered… for a Venue that Might Safely Host 35,000
Based on Davidson, Reside Nation reportedly bought 50,000 tickets to Astroworld — with out confirming whether or not 50,000 individuals would be capable to safely attend the live performance. Within the aftermath, consultants discovered that in actuality, the house solely had viewing capability for 35,000. “Which might imply they deliberate for a lot of hundreds extra individuals than may safely view Travis’ efficiency.” The documentary features a textual content message from a pageant organizer despatched on October twenty sixth: “I really feel like there isn’t any approach we’re going to match 50k in entrance of that stage. Particularly with all of the bushes!”
A Safety Failure Early within the Day Made Issues Worse
Early into Trainwreck, the documentary illustrates one massive concern: Whereas the solar was nonetheless shining that day, an untold variety of concert-goers overran the safety checkpoints on the venue — there’s ample footage of individuals knocking over fences and steel detectors of their pleasure to get inside, starting at 9:00 a.m. based on the Houston Chronicle. So, not solely was the live performance allegedly over capability simply based mostly on ticket gross sales, there have been in the end an unknown variety of individuals on the grounds past that tally.
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Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (Netflix)
The Venue Structure Was an Challenge
With the help of on-screen diagrams, Trainwreck reveals that attendees entered the viewers space from the facet of the stage, right into a T-shaped barrier system. “This was presupposed to make the stage safer, however as an alternative its configuration created a entice on the left-hand facet of the stage [where people were entering]. So the compression simply constructed and constructed [and] individuals couldn’t escape,” Davidson says.
Moreover, the principle stage was solely reserved for Scott’s efficiency that evening, which meant that hundreds of concertgoers entered the world on the similar time.
Organizers Knew This Might Be Lethal Minutes Earlier than Scott’s Efficiency
Travis Scott started enjoying at 9:02 p.m. that night. At 9:00 p.m. a Reside Nation worker despatched the next textual content: “Stage proper of predominant is getting crushed. That is unhealthy. Pull tons over the rail unconscious. There’s panic in individuals’s eyes. This might worsen rapidly. I’d pull the plug however that’s simply me. I do know they’ll attempt to battle via it however I’d need it on the document that I didn’t advise this to proceed. Somebody’s going to finish up lifeless.”
Once more, this textual content was despatched at 9:00 p.m. Two minutes earlier than the efficiency began. And attendees interviewed for the documentary say that because the present started, they had been already feeling like they couldn’t breathe, due to the way in which the group had amassed.
Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (Netflix)
