Is it time we prioritised fan safety at gigs?

In light of the recent Astroworld tragedy on 5th November, with 9 deaths and at least 100 injured. Questions have been asked of both the artists themselves and the organisers of events if enough is being done to maintain safety of the crowd.

A recent update on this story has shown Travis Scott to be a part of a 2-billion-dollar lawsuit that includes the likes of artists such as Drake and events company Live Nation.

Following from the tragic events of November 5th Travis Scott released an Instagram video giving his condolences to the people that were lost, the youngest being 9 years old. In this video he also said that he will be working with the relevant authorities to help those effected. A Go Fund Me was made for all the people who lost their lives, this will go towards funeral costs and supporting the families.

This tragedy should be a lesson for everyone that goes to concerts in the future as this has become an ordinary occurrence in today’s concert era. Mosh pitting has become more prevalent than ever. Mosh pitting can be defined as dancing to music in a violent manner, involving jumping up and down and deliberately colliding with other people. Research from the national library of medicine show that there is a high rate of injuries that come from mosh pits. From events that ranged from 5,100 to 16,000 there was between 50 to 206 injuries.

Specifically For Coventry, the council has a policy regarding event safety that they released in 2015. Within this policy they outline all the precautions that are in place whenever there is an event with a large amount of people.