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Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy details the horrors that unfolded during rapper Travis Scott's concert set in 2021. With eight people dying on the spot as a stampede broke out, and two more dying later in the hospital, the event drew the spotlight on the poor crowd management, careless planning, and the unspeakable tragedies that transpired on what was supposed to be a fun night.
Directed by Yemi Bamiro, the Netflix documentary weaves together footage from the event, interviews with survivors, and the suspicious events that led up to the mayhem. Fans were left shocked when they realized what went on behind the scenes.
Disclaimer: All information in this article is based on investigations and opinions in the documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy.
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What went wrong during the Travis Scott set? Details explored in Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
1) The tickets sold far exceeded the venue's capacity
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Whether it's at first glance or after an in-depth recon, NRG Park in Houston, the venue that hosted the Travis Scott set, could not safely host more than 35,000 people. So the first glaring error came from the event partners, Live Nation, who sold 50,000 tickets for the rapper's performance.
This made the event dangerous from the get-go. What's more shockingly revealed in Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy is a text message from someone from the festival organizing team discussing how the tickets might have been oversold massively.
“I feel like there is no way we are going to fit 50k in front of that stage," read the text message from one of Astroworld's organizing personnel.
2) The event spelled disaster from the moment the gates opened
Things go from bad to worse as viewers of Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy realize that there was more than one instance that should have alerted event organizers to impending doom during the Travis Scott performance. One of the most alarming aspects was what happened at the festival's gates.
Small things culminated to cause the lethal stampede from the moment the gates opened. While the organizers had sold 50,000 tickets, there was no guarantee how many people were inside the festival venue as fans rushed in, pushing gates, shoving metal detectors, and not paying heed to security.
3) Uneven standing area arrangements resulted in the stampede
Travis Scott's stage had the most common setup: a T-shaped thrust stage that split the crowd area down the middle. But in Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, crowd safety expert Scott Davidson of Live Nation comments on how it created an uneven crowd towards the left side.
He mentions that the setup created a trap on the left-hand side, and without proper signage to move people evenly across both sides of the stage, it was impossible to control the crowd compressing towards one end. This led to the tragedy unfolding in the blink of an eye.
4) Travis Scott continued performing after seeing people in trouble
One of the most confounding moments in Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy was what unfolded as the stampede occurred. While Travis Scott did briefly pause to announce that someone in the crowd needed help, he continued to perform without realizing the gravity of the situation.
Transcripts prove that a Live Nation manager tried to get through to Travis Scott's in-ears and make him stop the set, but the performer denied receiving any instructions in a future Instagram post. The miscommunication, lack of proper planning, and the horrific juxtaposition of the performance happening in the wake of the tragedy were some of the most shocking revelations from the documentary.
5) No one individual could be held responsible for the event
At the end of Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, viewers are privy to the most disturbing aftermath of the incident. After a long, drawn-out case, a jury in 2023 decided that no one person could be held responsible for the tragedy. This meant that the lawsuits filed by the family of the ten deceased concert-goers were settled outside the court of law.
The documentary also went on to reveal that Travis Scott earned over $200 million in 2024, organizing a worldwide solo rap tour with Live Nation once again. It is shocking and deeply disturbing to viewers to see a lack of resolution after an event as tragic as this.
6) Organizers knew things would get lethal two minutes before the performance
Two minutes before Travis Scott took to the stage, a Live Nation employee sent a text that was covered in Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. It read:
“Stage right of main is getting crushed. This is bad. Pull tons over the rail unconscious. There’s panic in people’s eyes. This could get worse quickly. I would pull the plug but that’s just me. I know they’ll try to fight through it but I would want it on the record that I didn’t advise this to continue. Someone’s going to end up dead.”
So some people were already warning about an imminent disaster even before Scott began his performance. This shocking revelation makes viewers wonder if proper communication could have stopped the set and made the area safer for people to leave.
Stream Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy on Netflix.
