After Astroworld deaths, old videos show artists pause concerts for crowd emergencies
After eight people were killed during rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, videos have resurfaced on social media of other musicians pausing their own concerts for medical emergencies.
Fans were tightly packed during Scott’s headlining set Nov. 5, causing attendees to be unable to move, the Associated Press reported. Fans of Scott said the rapper paused his set numerous times as chaos unfolded in front of him, but the show continued for nearly 40 minutes after it was ruled a “mass causality event” by city officials, according to The New York Times.
“As soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire,” Niaara Goods told the AP. “All of a sudden, your ribs are being crushed. You have someone’s arm in your neck. You’re trying to breathe but you can’t.”
Houston police continue to investigate the deaths and injuries from Astroworld Festival. Scott will refund all Astroworld attendees and has canceled his next festival appearance in Las Vegas, NBC News reported.
In an Instagram Live video he posted Saturday night, Scott said he did not realize how severe things had gotten in the crowd, CNN reported. In addition to the eight deaths, hundreds more were injured as fans trampled over one another in the stampede.
“Any time I could make out, you know, anything that’s going on, you know, I just stopped my show and, you know, helped them get the help they need,” Scott said in his statement.
People were being taken away on gurneys in the middle of Scott’s set, which continued until after 10 p.m.
“It was surreal because you see these people being pulled out on these gurneys and people running into the medical tent, but the music is still going,” Gary Gaston told the AP. “People in the arena were unaware of it.”
Other top musicians, including Adele and Billie Eilish, have since been applauded for stopping previous sets when observing medical issues involving their fans.
Adele
During an undated concert as pop superstar Adele was performing “Rolling in the Deep,” she abruptly paused her show when someone in the crowd was having a medical emergency.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop. Someone is fainting again. Excuse me, medics, right in the middle,” Adele said. She proceeded to ask the crowd to make room for medical officials.
Adele then asked if the person was alright before she continued with her performance, video shows.
A video of the performance posted to Twitter over the weekend has garnered more than 10,000 likes. Some defended Scott in the post, saying he paused his Astroworld performance a handful of times before finally ending it. Others voiced their support for Adele.
“She’s an absolute lady!” one woman commented. “She stops and does it so calmly. Well done!”
Foo Fighters
During a festival performance, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was shown telling the crowd to look out for one another.
”I need for everyone to make sure everyone is OK,” Grohl said. “If you see somebody that might need a little help, you’ve gotta pick them up. If you see somebody that you think might can’t get up themselves, you’ve gotta help them get up.”
At a separate concert, he stopped his performance when he spotted someone fighting in the crowd. He ordered the person fighting to leave his show.
“You don’t come to my show to fight, you come to my show and f****** dance,” Grohl said as the crowd erupted in cheers.
WARNING: This video contains language some may consider offensive.
The latter video was shared on Reddit over the weekend, receiving more than 105,000 likes and more than 2,600 users commenting.
“The fact that he saw that within those thousands of people and stopped the fight is amazing,” one commenter said.
Linkin Park
Some people brought up a Linkin Park concert, where Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda noticed something happening in the crowd and stopped the performance of the band’s song “Papercut.”
“Pick him up. Pick him up right now,” Bennington said.
“We got to look out for safety first, for real,” Shinoda said. “Nobody gets hurt. That’s No. 1.”
The video of Linkin Park’s performance has been retweeted more than 70,000 times since Saturday with nearly 300,000 likes.
On Reddit, fans of Linkin Park applauded the band’s actions and some said it should be done at all shows.
“All artists should do this. This should be a requirement if you’re performing for a large crowd,” a commenter said. “Like how first aid is a requirement for life guards.”
Billie Eilish
Video also resurfaced of Billie Eilish stopping a performance of “Ocean Eyes” when someone passed out in the crowd.
She hands out some of her water then asks if there is anything she can do to help.
“I care about you guys so much. I want you to be OK,” the singer tells the crowd. She continues to pass out water and calm down the crowd before resuming her set.
“And now I’m a Billie Eilish fan,” one person commented on Reddit.
Logic
The rapper Logic observed two medical emergencies in the pit at one of his shows and asked people to carefully move closer to either side of the stage to make room for medical personnel.
“I can’t tell you how many times this s*** happens at a concert. This is real, but you guys need to make sure feel OK and you’re good,” Logic said.
“No matter where you, from the front, the middle and on the side, it ain’t worth waking up in the hospital tomorrow,” he added.
WARNING: This video contains language some may consider offensive.
The video has been pointed out by social media users as an example of how a musician could help in an emergency.
“Reading and seeing all this stuff about Astroworld is awful and what disappointments me the most is people saying ‘What could Travis have done!’ when there’s videos like this that exist of artists helping passed out fans in their crowds,” a Twitter user said. “It doesn’t take much to help.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 11:25 AM with the headline "After Astroworld deaths, old videos show artists pause concerts for crowd emergencies."