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Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What happened in the Astroworld tragedy? 6 takeaways from Netflix's new 'Trainwreck 'documentary
Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy revisits the crowd crush that left 10 dead at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in 2021. The film claims that poor planning, ineffective stage placement, and slow responses from those in charge all exacerbated the severity of the event. Directed by Yemi Bamiro and Hannah Poulter, the documentary is now streaming on November 2021, 10 concertgoers died and hundreds were injured during a terrifying crowd crush that occurred during rapper Travis Scott's headlining set at Astroworld, an annual music festival in Houston hosted by the popular rapper. Now, roughly four years since that night, Netflix is exploring the myriad of alleged planning and personnel failures that resulted in the calamity with a new documentary, Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. Directed by Yemi Bamiro and Hannah Poulter, the film aims to capture the horrors of the evening and the specifics of what went wrong through interviews with Astroworld staff, concertgoers, and the friends and families of victims. (The Houston Police Department released a 1,266-page report on their investigation into the tragedy in 2023. A grand jury declined to indict Travis Scott, Live Nation, and other organizers on criminal charges. In 2024, Scott and Live Nation settled wrongful death lawsuits stemming from the incident.) Approach with caution if you're claustrophobic — the film's footage of attendees crushed in the chaos is hard to stomach. It also highlights commentary from Scott Davidson, a crowd safety expert recruited to work with Live Nation, who managed the festival, in the aftermath of the tragedy. Davidson says he was given a "treasure trove" of evidence, including site plans, emails, and text messages, to help in his investigation into Astroworld's failures. "I believe Astroworld 2021 was not an accident. It was an inevitability due to a lack of foresight and the abandonment of basic safety protocols," Davidson says in the documentary, adding that he was "shocked" by what he found. Below, we unpack the biggest bombshells from Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. Though the crush occurred during Scott's headlining set, Astroworld 2021 was a disaster from the minute the gates opened. Footage from the day in question shows attendees rushing the entrances, barreling past security, and knocking over metal detectors. While this kind of behavior isn't surprising, it's usually considered during the planning process. In the documentary, Mark Lentini, a former commander for the Houston Police Department, opines, "What was going on was so totally predictable, [but] there didn't seem to be any contingency plans or mitigating." Jackson Bush, who worked security at Astroworld 2021, says in the documentary that he was hired the evening before the festival started. He also claims that he was given no guidance onsite. "The only instructions that we had came from other workers that was working with us," he says. "They were like, 'Hey, they gonna rush the gates, so y'all be ready.'" The chaos at the entry points distracted the festival's security and attending police officers to such a degree that people without tickets began climbing fences and streaming onto the festival grounds. Several interviewees remark that this kind of chaos is to be expected at Scott's concerts. The rapper is known for riling up audiences, often encouraging them to climb onstage and bypass security. In 2015, Scott was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after telling a Lollapalooza crowd to "put a middle finger up to security right now" and leap over security barriers during his set. Scott pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year of court supervision, according to Rolling Stone. Kirby Gladstein, a photographer who worked Astroworld, says she was told by festival organizers to "lean into the fans and the chaos." Gladstein also notes that a promo video for the 2021 festival, which is shown in the documentary, contains footage of attendees breaking down fences trying to get in. "It was stressed to us that we try and match that energy, showing how crazy it all is," she says. "That type of energy," Davidson notes, "requires a high level of planning." According to Davidson, Live Nation sold 50,000 tickets to Astroworld "before they'd worked out how this number would be able to safely view Travis' set." Later, he cites a finding that Scott's stage only had viewing capacity for just 35,000. "They planned for many thousands more people than could safely view Travis' performance," claims Davidson, who adds that the full number of attendees remains unknown since so many unticketed people managed to slip inside. Davidson also cites text message exchanges he viewed between "key members" of Live Nation management who discussed not knowing how the festival would accommodate 50,000 people. "The sellable capacity for the venue was set by SMG Global and approved by the Houston Fire Department (HFD) before tickets went on sale," reads a statement from Live Nation shown at the end of The Astroworld Tragedy. "The number of tickets sold, and attendees on site did not exceed the approved capacity." One of the biggest failures of Astroworld 2021, according to Davidson, was the placement of Scott's stage, which could only be approached from the left-hand side. Since the stage had a T-shaped barrier system that split the viewing area down the middle — a common feature of festival stages — this meant the "configuration created a trap on the left-hand side of the stage." With proper signage and security, Davidson believes audiences could have been directed to circle around the rear of the viewing area to take a spot on the right-hand side. Instead, they all piled into the left-hand side. "And so the compression just built and built where people could not escape," explains Davidson. Related: Travis Scott, Drake, Live Nation sued over 'predictable, preventable' Astroworld tragedy This was compounded by the fact that Scott's stage was used only for Scott's set, meaning a huge influx of fans all streamed towards his stage around the same time. All of the attendees appearing in the documentary recall the terror of the crowd crush, which made it difficult to move or breath. As more and more bodies compress into each other, the risk of falling and being trampled increases exponentially. Several concertgoers recount the "stacked" bodies piling up around them during Scott's set. A medical examiner concluded that all 10 Astroworld deaths were caused by compression asphyxiation. Each of them was on the left side of the stage, according to the doc. "HFD, SMG Global, and the Houston Police Department (HPD) were aware of the event plans, which were developed in line with safety codes," reads a statement from Live Nation shown in the documentary. One of the more distressing revelations in the documentary concerns allegations that Live Nation representatives understood the severity of the situation but allowed the concert to go on anyway. As Davidson puts it, a "common denominator" in the Astroworld 2021 incidents was "a failure to speak truth to power." According to Davidson, only two Live Nation representatives had the authority to stop the show in the event of an emergency. He says this is a deviation from the norm: "Any key decision maker, from police, fire, EMS, or Live Nation, should've been able to very quickly initiate a show-stop process." According to ABC News, Houston Police was aware of trampling and multiple injuries as early as 9:30 p.m. Lentini says in the documentary that law enforcement was looking for a manager from Live Nation about potentially ending or delaying the concert, but "couldn't find him." As ABC notes, Houston Police saw the concert as a potential "mass casualty event" by 9:38 p.m. Per transcripts reviewed by Davidson, a Live Nation manager allegedly spoke to the audio engineer at 9:52 p.m., ordering the concert "shut down" by 10 p.m. Davidson notes the manager was aware of the severity of the situation by that point, quoting the manager as saying they witnessed "more crush victims than I've ever seen in my 25-year career." But the concert didn't stop at 10 p.m. Instead, it went on for at least another 12 minutes. As Davidson tells it, Astroworld organizers and police worried about triggering a "crowd panic" by stopping the concert abruptly. "The idea of a performance continuing while even on CPR in progress is underway is insane. Unprecedented," he says. Davidson also cites alleged text messages between Live Nation staffers that further underscore how serious they knew the crush was becoming. "Panic in people's eyes. This could get worse quickly," reads one. "Someone's going to end up dead," reads another. "The Festival Safety & Risk Director and HPD representatives agreed to and executed an early show stop," reads a statement from Live Nation. In the aftermath of the tragedy, conspiracy theories quickly spread online and in the news media. As the BBC reported at the time, several social media posts went viral by calling the event "Satanic," speculating that the crush was part of a "ritualistic sacrifice." Another prominent theory highlighted in the documentary blamed the medical emergencies on tainted drugs being injected into concertgoers' necks with a needle. As attendees note, these theories only served to distract from the actual causes, including poor planning and slow responses by those in authority. "These people did not die from a needle in their neck," says one concertgoer in the documentary. "The answers are right there in front of you. We're telling you what happened. Why are people not hearing us?" The Astroworld Tragedy is a harrowing watch, but there is one bright spot. Early in the film, we meet Sophia, a woman who had just gotten her nursing license weeks before the concert. We also meet Arturo, who suffered a heart attack during the show and, if not for Sophia's intervention, likely would have died. Years following the concert, the two remain close. "There's no way that this all happened and we don't talk afterwards," she says. "Hopefully we're friends forever," says Arturo. Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy is currently streaming on the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
The True Story Behind Netflix's Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
In November 2021, the third Astroworld music festival commenced in Houston, Tex., the hometown of rap superstar Travis Scott. Scott had a personal affinity for the Six Flags AstroWorld theme park in Houston that had closed its doors in 2005, naming his six-time platinum certified 2018 album after it and holding the inaugural festival near the site of the demolished amusement park. After canceling the 2020 edition because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Astroworld 2021 promised to be bigger than the two editions before, expanding the festival from one day to two, while uniting tens of thousands of young fans who had missed out on valuable concert-going experiences since the pandemic began. 'It's a carefree world' is how concertgoer Kaia Redus describes the festival in Netflix's Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, which details how the Houston celebration turned into a death trap with 10 fatalities, with the youngest victim only nine years old, as well as hundreds of injuries. 'It was a concert you didn't want to miss, and you knew it was going to be fun,' explains Sophia Santana, another survivor, with enthusiasm and certainty. The feature-length documentary, releasing June 10, is the first in a weekly series that digs into big event meltdowns that made headlines, created corporate scandals, and often cost lives. Directed by Yemi Bamiro, the film includes interviews with survivors and experts and uses footage shot on concertgoers' phones to explain how such a massive crowd crush happened during Travis Scott's headlining performance and what happened in the aftermath. What led to the deaths at Astroworld? Astroworld was organized by LiveNation, the biggest live event promoter in the U.S. bar none, and the company was eager to capitalize on Scott's 'rager' brand when Astroworld returned. As The Astroworld Tragedy shows, footage of fans breaking down fences to get into the 2019 Astroworld was used to promote the festival's return. Kirby Gladstein, a returning festival photographer, recalls her team was instructed to lean into the chaos of Scott's performances. Gladstein seemed anxious to share her perspective on the temperature of the festival and how the organizers lost control, as she believes the blame lies at LiveNation's feet. 'They hold so much of this industry in the palm of their hand,' says Gladstein. 'By talking about what happened at Astroworld, I know that I'm jeopardizing my career, ultimately.' (No representative of LiveNation is interviewed in the documentary, though their responses are included in text at the end of the film, and include pointing to the roles of SMG Global and the Houston Fire Department in setting sellable capacity for the venue, and stating all relevant parties were aware of event plans and safety codes. The company released their only statement on the tragedy the day after it occurred, in 2021.) The Astroworld Tragedy interviews crowd safety expert Scott Davidson, onsite paramedic Jose Villegas, and security guards Jackson and Samuel Bush (who were only hired hours before the festival began) to paint a picture of the poor planning that contributed to the festival's death tally. The mainstage was unoccupied all day, meaning that fans could camp out for Scott for hours in the hot Houston sun. It also meant that thousands of fans traveled to the headline set from the same direction at the exact same time, creating the perfect conditions for crowd crushing. On the left-hand side of the stage, fans funnelled directly into a pen that added more pressure to fans against barriers with no route of escape. Beginning at 9 p.m., Scott appeared on stage and the crushing quickly worsened; the most upsetting footage of The Astroworld Tragedy is taken from cell phone videos shot inside the pen, showing fans being asphyxiated and crushed in real time while Scott's performance blares unaffected behind them – while Scott would later say he was aware of some fainting and disturbance, he claimed to not realise the gravity of the situation. How did Astroworld organizers respond to the crisis? 'Stop the show! Stop the show! Stop the show!' shout fans as Scott introduces a guest onstage. Despite concertgoers screaming for help en masse, climbing up to restricted areas to demand help from officials, and calling the police, the concert didn't end until an hour after Scott began performing onstage. Davidson concluded (and the documentary team consulted an additional crowd safety expert to verify his findings) that a major fault with the festival was that only two individuals had been delegated authority to stop the concert when it became dangerous, but as Davidson explains, 'any key decision-maker [...] should have been able to very quickly initiate a show stop process, what should have been as simple as a figurative or literal button being pushed.' Meanwhile, crush victims were struggling to breathe and stand up straight. 'I just remember thinking, 'Don't fall down because you won't make it back up,'' recalls Santana. The countdown to 10 p.m. was hectic and lethal, and Davidson quotes the transcript of a LiveNation manager speaking to the audio engineer, one of the only people who could speak directly to Scott onstage: 'We have four active CPRs going on. Two are most likely dead. It is very, very bad. There are more crush victims than I've ever seen in my 25-year career.' Mark Lentini, a former commander for the Houston Police, places the responsibility for the Astroworld tragedy on the festival organizers rather than the police response. He points out how completely predictable the chaos of unauthorized entry and jumping fences would have been to a properly organized festival team. But others see it differently; as Davidson explains, as the crisis was worsening, the Houston Police and LiveNation agreed to continue the concert for Drake to appear onstage to avoid 'trigger crowd panic'. 'The idea of a performance continuing while even one CPR in progress is underway is insane, unprecedented, not to mention multiple,' stresses Davidson. What was the aftermath? Travis Scott's statements on the tragedy were received as insincere by many survivors and victims' loved ones, who tearfully recount the moments at hospitals and reunification centers when they were informed of deaths. Since Astroworld, Scott has made only a few comments on the tragedy, but the song 'My Eyes' on his 2023 album Utopia references his perspective of the event, with one lyric that goes, 'If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child.' In addition to Utopia, Scott has released a companion film Circus Maximus, and is currently nearing the end of a global tour—but Astroworld has not been held since 2021. A grand jury decided not to hold any individual criminally responsible for the tragedy, and the families of victims received out of court settlements for lawsuits brought against Scott and LiveNation. Since Astroworld, LiveNation has faced a host of other legal issues, including a lawsuit from the Department of Justice for monopolization of the music industry, another from the families of an artist who was murdered backstage at a festival, and criticism of their hostile arbitration rules. Netflix's documentary gets to the heart of how something as traumatic and confounding as the Astroworld crowd crush happened, but the questions it ends on—Why didn't someone stop it? Will it happen again?—are left terrifyingly unanswered.
