Kara Kennedy: Do we need more security in music concerts?

In November last year, fans at rap star Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston witnessed ten people die from compression asphyxia due to stampeding crowds at the gig. This sparked the debate around how much responsibility lies with the artist when it comes to rowdy crowds, with thousands of people blaming Scott himself for the deaths. The Houston Chronicle reported that Travis Scott, who founded the festival, stopped multiple times during his 75-minute performance when he spotted fans in distress near the front of the stage. He asked security to make sure they were okay and help them out of the crowd.

Do we have enough stewards?

After the Harry Styles' gig, fans were quick to take to social media to criticise the security's response time. One person said: "The stewards were awful and apparently took forever to get to him.” Another claimed: "Our stand was all screaming to get them to stop the show and to get medics to the guy.” Gig-goers also said that stewards waited until after the final song to respond to the incident. The blame game will inevitably continue.

It happened to me?

I have my own experience of this, at Reading Festival last year, the headline act, Stormzy, was so crowded that there were long periods of time where my feet quite literally didn’t touch the ground. Instead, I was held up by surrounding crowds by my ribcage, unable to breathe properly. People around me were passing out left, right and centre, with some having to be lifted over barriers by the few security guards near us. Rumour has it that due to Covid losses, tickets were oversold by around 30% to mitigate any money lost.

So what can we do?

There is – of course – a certain amount of personal responsibility, but when tickets are oversold and crowds are unmanageable there is only so much one can do. Singers can hardly be blamed, after all, they are usually blinded by stage lights and are often unaware of what is happening in the crowds. Although, last week in London, Billy Eilish halted her performance at the O2 Arena to check fans were "all okay" as they were squashed at the front of the stage. She also urged fans to "take a step back" in order to "give everybody some space" and asked the security team at the O2 to distribute water to the audience.

What's the answer?

It seems to me that there is one logical response, which is to – without sounding like a killjoy – increase security at concerts in order to ensure that people are safe, and anyone that does suffer injury is treated promptly, without being left to suffer in the sea of drunken, rowdy crowds.

KARA KENNEDY