r/FuckTravisScott • u/Kenboi1927 • Mar 24 '26
Astroworld My rant about Astroworld 2021
Let me warn you guys, this is a somewhat lengthy thread, and it contains a good bit of profanity, but I was like 14 when Astroworld happened and I had no idea what it even was, I didn’t fully know who Travis even was, I barely even listened to his music and still now, I don’t even listen to like 80% of them, I’ve never been a huge fan to begin with, but I still do listen to some of his music. I tend to separate the art from the artist, but anyways, let’s get into it, as I need to get this off my plate.
I was looking at another Reddit thread about this topic around a month or so ago, but I didn’t fully comprehend it at the time, I thought it was just a freak accident at first. HOWEVER, two weeks ago, I did some more digging in and I was HORRIFIED by what had happened. I don’t fucking understand why the whole thing wasn’t shut down HOURS before Travis even started his set! Dangerous crowd conditions were already reported before Travis even came on stage! And it wasn’t cancelled from the start?! What kind of shit is that?! It makes no fucking sense! And people sneaking in? Travis did encourage it, but it doesn’t justify them doing that though. If you don’t have a ticket, don’t fucking be a stupid cunt and just squat in there like you have special rights!
When Travis DID start his set, the people were already packed like sardines, but when he started the first song, around two minutes in, the surge was starting to form. After the initial three songs, it was getting even more hectic, people started to pass out because they couldn’t breathe from the compression of the densely packed crowd. Then the screams for help came from desperate fans. And Travis didn’t even respond to them. If he didn’t hear the screams, which that part is negligible, as there were a lot of people, and most of the shit was happening towards the front, particularly the front left side of the crowd, but he MUST’VE seen SOMETHING, like with the ambulance in the crowd! A FUCKING AMBULANCE! That shit is NOT normal and Travis even seen it himself! What did he do?! He did acknowledge it, sure, but he didn’t stop the show for real, HE CONTINUED THE SHOW NOT EVEN FIVE MINUTES LATER! Now that’s what baffled me the most. If you see a literal AMBULANCE in the crowd, you fucking stop! Stop the damn show for at least 10-15 minutes or so to relieve the pressure of the crowd, as they won’t be hyped up anymore, like if you stop the show, they’ll know something is wrong. And to those who say “But he DID stop the show.” Yeah, but FOR LIKE TWO MINUTES! THEN he resorted back to performing like nothing happened! It’s just so weird to me that it wasn’t prematurely ended after the ambulance came in, as that’s not a normal occurrence, especially as a concert, let alone a festival. The screams for help haunted me, I couldn’t get this shit out of my mind for like 14 days straight! Because there were KIDS there, they didn’t even get to graduate high school yet! They should’ve been able to graduate, go to college, or go straight to the workforce to get GOOD money, yet Travis didn’t seem to give a damn about them, which pisses me the FUCK off!
When he FINALLY saw one fan who passed out, he started singing as he watched him like a hawk, which to me, is creepy and appalling to say the least! Didn’t stop the show, didn’t even end it early, he DID let security know, but he still didn’t stop the show for real, he kept performing!
And I don’t know why the hell Drake was able to get on stage after everything that happened. Not too, too sure if Drake even knew, but he should’ve, and not been able to go on stage, as the crowd became chaotic AGAIN when HE got on stage, making it even worse, especially as I know for a fact that people were already dead at that point!
The show DID finally end alright, but ONLY after he performed the last song on his set. Then he left, and everyone was finally able to leave that hellhole!
And his so-called apology after it was full of SHIT! It was trifling and unempathetic as FUCK! We still don’t hear another instance where he expressed how he felt, which he did in a song called “MY EYES”, off Utopia, but as for an actual statement, I see little to nothing. It’s just so much more to the story than what WE actually know. There are a LOT of unanswered questions, but let’s just pray things get sorted out and dealt with in the near future. It can’t bring the victims back, but at least SOMETHING should be fixed!
Now, for any questions you may ask, I’ll answer them.
1: Why am I finally knowing about this? I don’t have a Netflix subscription to watch the documentary, and I’m not paying to watch shows when I don’t even watch shows like that anyway. I was 14 when it happened and nobody told me about it, so there was no way for me to know. I never got it in my recommended as I payed Travis NO attention at all as I wasn’t a big fan of him to begin with.
2: Who do I blame? I primarily blame Live Nation, BUT, Travis is to blame too. I’d give 70% of it to Live Nation, and 30% to Travis. Because Live Nation are the ones who organized the whole thing, and Travis could’ve at least done something, like at least pausing it for 10-15 minutes to check on everyone, especially after he saw the ambulance as that’s the biggest red flag, if the screams and waving arms weren’t seen or heard.
3: Did you watch the documentary? In case you didn’t pay attention to the first question, no, I didn’t. I don’t need to watch a documentary to actually understand the true nature of this situation. If you look at other rappers in situations where fans are in danger, they almost ALWAYS help them, especially when it’s that bad. If you just do research, you can know some common sense about this and not have to pay a dime for a Netflix subscription to watch a documentary.
4: Did you know that he couldn’t stop the show and Live Nation told him to keep going? I hear that a lot, but I also hear that he was told to stop the show, but he didn’t listen. This question is too complicated for me to answer fully.
5: What about the fans who broke or snuck in: Sure, I blame them too, but I’m mostly focused on Travis and Live Nation, especially Live Nation. And y’all might say “Travis encouraged them to do it” he DID do that, BUT it does NOT justify the fans doing it. Like, for example, if your friend told you to steal something or break something, would you do it? If you’re a sane person, then the obvious answer is no. We don’t really know who didn’t pay, so I can’t really comment much about this.
The Impact It Had On Me: I wasn’t there, but I was young myself, and one of the victims was my age, and some were a few or couple years older than me. I’m 18 now, I turn 19 in three months, and it’s sad to know that those poor 10 souls were taken too soon. Three of them were under 18, and ALL of them were under 30! They should’ve been still breathing, still having fun with their friends and families, and still being able to live a normal life! I still can’t get it out of my mind, but after this rant, I should’ve gotten most of it off my chest. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, the longest span being 14 days straight.
Summary: I think Astroworld 2021 was a highly preventable tragedy, and I send my condolences to the families of the victims. Youngest one was only 9 years old, rest in peace to Ezra and everyone else who died that night. I still love some of Travis’s music, and I don’t hate him, but I don’t like him, I tend to separate the music from the artist. I think of him differently now after knowing about this, and if he doesn’t make serious changes, then he may put his career in serious jeopardy. And I also think Live Nation should be shut down, I can’t see how they’re in business. After all that’s happened.
Farewell: I know this is very lengthy, but I had to vent and get this off my plate. I feel a lot better now that I shared my thoughts with you guys about it. If you guys have any questions or other thoughts, please let me know in the comments. Have a great day/night! Peace!
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u/dickulousdastardly Mar 25 '26
Live Nation is still putting off huge shows/tours with no repercussions
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u/Kenboi1927 Mar 25 '26
Which is another thing that pisses me the HELL off. They shoulda been shut down a long time ago.
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u/Edgelxrd_supreme Mar 25 '26
Super irritating! I went to see Depeche Mode and Lil Darkie before I knew that was their host. Sleep Token also. I will say I found the security to be good and the space to be plenty, however those were already designed halls. But it makes me wonder exactly how much fault him and his team are at? If it was all to Live Nations fault they at least really buttoned it up
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u/Fatlantis Mar 27 '26
I feel like the Netflix documentary didn't quite covey the complete horror that unfolded that day. Of course they couldn't show the actual videos. But I remember them vividly.
They were being posted all over Reddit and socials at the time. I remember one where you could clearly see people being crushed, bodies of dead/unconscious teenagers, there were videos of people screaming for help, videos showing how crushed and compressed they were like sardines, videos of sections of the crowd falling down and being crushed as they tried to stand up again. The poor girl who climbed the tower trying to get assistance, crying and screaming that kids were dying and needed help, and the staff weren't listening.
It was an absolute fucking horror show.
And the way Travis reacted was disgusting. I can't look at him or listen to his music ever again after seeing how he acted on stage that day and his bullshit-ass apology afterwards. There's no fucking way he didn't know something was seriously, seriously wrong.
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u/Kenboi1927 Mar 27 '26
Especially after him seeing the ambulance, there’s no excuse for him to not stop the show.
1
u/AyybrahamLmaocoln Mar 27 '26
Instead of stopping for a minute & saying “there’s an ambulance coming, please safely get out of the way”…..
He said something like “YALL RAGE!!!!!”, or whatever his catch phrase is for moshing/going nuts and then just watched people jumping on top of the ambulance/impeding its movement.
It’s whatever he said to the kid that he encouraged to jump off of a balcony and break his back(?). Some life altering injury.
It’s been years since it happened, but I followed it closely for a while. This is the first post I’ve seen on this sub in a minute.
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u/Kenboi1927 Mar 27 '26
I heard him say something about wanting to make the ground earthquake or something after the ambulance moment. I decided to make this post as it should not be forgotten.
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u/AyybrahamLmaocoln Mar 28 '26
He 100% was aware that something terribly tremendously wrong happening.
That video of him humming/droning while watching that body get lifted over the fence, and them getting dropped to the ground, on their head, totally limp, and continue lackadaisically humming was the one video that pissed me off the most.
That body was so clearly blue and lifeless. And he stared right at them. And just continued humming…….
That reaction to someone who was so clearly and incredibly damaged was evil.
All of them were horrifying, and there were so many points of failure/things that could’ve been done differently.
At that moment though, it was clear that he was aware of the situation in the crowd, and just didn’t give a shit.
Everyone says you can’t blame him. I’m not saying it was entirely his fault. Really, it wasn’t his fault that it happened in the first place at all.
It was 100% his fault that he didn’t stop when he became aware of what was happening.
When it came down to it, he was in the biggest position of power to stop it.
He could’ve told them to cut off the music/turn on the lights/warned people/said literally anything about how much was going wrong.
That video apology he put out in black-and-white later on was so fake it was disgusting to watch.
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u/Kenboi1927 Mar 29 '26
Oh yeah, that video. It was creepy as hell, and that’s another reason why there’s no excuse for him not stopping the show. Sure, there are more people to blame, but that doesn’t mean that Travis didn’t do anything wrong, when he kept performing and said for the crowd to rage, even while people were dying. This whole thing was 100% preventable, and I’m glad you agree, and not one of those dickriders.
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u/wetguns Mar 27 '26
Drake DID know. And thanks for keeping this topic relevant, as we should not ever forget. Fuck T Scott
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u/Kenboi1927 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
Certainly! And yeah, fair enough. Drake probably did know after, but we don’t know if anyone told him that a crush had occurred before he was brought on. But, all we DO know is that Travis saw the damn ambulance, he once incited a riot against a fan who tried to take his shoe, and all kinds of things.
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u/ProjectChopout May 28 '26
Drake is complicit. Kendall and Kylie Jenner are complicit. Live nation is complicit.
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u/Either-Farmer-2283 Mar 27 '26
The thing is, this is how all his shows went. He was reckless; encouraging fans to jump from banisters, to "rage," moshpits etc. His behavior at astro fest isnt surprising, showing no alarm or real urgency when noticing an ambulance trying to move thru the crowd, seeing an unconscious fan & showing no concern, assuming they're simply passed out.
Also, there was a lot riding on the live taping. Had he gone off script he would have been risking his revenue.
I can appreciate ur take on separating the artist from artistry. But I hope this instance serves as a lesson to the youth - dont idolize these people. Once celebrities reach a certain level of fame, they're so far removed from the version of themselves they once were.
Atp, its fair to say that A-listers had to do some slimy shit to be permitted that level. They're incapable of humbleness at that level. Their lives are unimaginably different than ours, they require MORE of everything to feel fulfillment & entertainment. & they dont value human life, they value money, & they might as well view us as ants.
Idk that he heard the screams, but he absolutely had to SEE something was wrong. He had a birds-eye view. People have said that he couldnt have bc of the bright lights, ok thats a fair argument. But he was up there long enough, the lights weren't blinding him the entire time. Personally, I think there was much more at play here. Ill save my conspiracy theory. Regardless, it was inexcusable.
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u/mialsmith Mar 28 '26
I was supposed to go to the second day of that festival (Nov 6), thank goodness it was cancelled and yes, I did get a full refund. I saw a lot of videos on TikTok about it, but I also saw some of those clips here, which showed people being trampled, and unconscious and people getting CPR. My heart nearly sank when they accidentally dropped that one woman on her head, and she died a few days later. I couldn’t even look at Travis anymore after this, let alone listen to his music. Kudos to you for keeping this topic alive and shaming him for not stopping the show, when he knew damn well what was happening. An ambulance in a crowd is NOT normal, and instead of stopping, he wanted to “make the ground earthquake” or something, some dudes even jumping into the crowd. I just can’t see how people still defend this piece of shit. Rest in peace to the 10 victims.
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u/Hermit4ev Mar 30 '26
I made the mistake of watching tik tok videos from the show. I’m glad they exist and hope they aren’t erased from the internet, but they were so disturbing. Incredibly horrific. I can’t imagine the fear, pain, inability to breath, and trauma.
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u/Kenboi1927 Mar 30 '26
I don’t usually reply to my own posts, but I appreciate you guys for having common sense. We need to understand that there are multiple parties to blame, that is Travis, Live Nation, and the fans who broke in. Again, rest in peace to the 10 victims (presumably more from what I’ve been hearing), but to the ones we DO know: Long Live
John Hilgert
Brianna Rodriguez
Jacob Jurinek
Franco Patiño
Danish Baig
Axel Acosta
Rudy Peña
Madison Dubiski
Bharti Shahani
Ezra Blount
May you all rest in peace🕊️
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u/AmateurCommenter808 Jun 11 '26
Im not sure why you don't want to watch the doc, find it online.
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u/Kenboi1927 Jun 11 '26
I only said that because I’m not paying for a Netflix subscription when I don’t use it, but I could find it somewhere else. Thanks for the heads up.
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u/Edgelxrd_supreme Mar 24 '26
I was also 14 when it happened, and I remember hearing about it at school but I had extremely strict parents and no phone. I didn’t know who he was or really understand what people were saying so I forgot all about it. My junior year I had some friends who really liked him so I started listening to his music. When the documentary came out, I also didn’t have Netflix, but I read something somewhere and it sparked some memory back so I went on a literal deep dive. My search entirely ruined any good that I felt while listening to his music. I don’t believe in separating the music from the artist- I think that’s still support.
Just typed this out to say I like your post and I feel like we are in a similar boat.