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The feed is chillingly mundane.
Was it normal for an emergency vehicle with sirens blaring to be trapped among revelers all night?
Who is responsible for this?
Crowd collapses and stampedes are horrors of physics that can happen without much prior warning.
Eleven died in 1979 at a Cincinnati arena concert by the Who as fans squeezed through too few gates.
It is exceedingly hard to breathe in such a squeeze.
It is also difficult to parse accountability.
Audiences get vilified as reckless hooligans.
Officials get called incompetent.
Artists getsued by familiesfor being too short-sighted to plan effectively for a disaster.
Everyoneraces to prove they werent directly culpable, and momentum for fundamental change crumbles alongside mass outrage.
After the Who gig, Cincinnati took a hard line and banned general-admission seating.
Other cities didnt line up to follow that lead, and Cincinnati ultimately repealed its own ban in 2004.
The potential for this tragedy to get charged to the game is very real.
They will do only as much soul-searching as the demand requires.
They will pass the buck.
This isnt the first Live Nation event to have its safety protocols called into question.
Its nobodys first rodeo.
I dont expect quick answers to these questions.
Instead, well probably have awful conversations about violence in hip-hop culture.
Well wonder whats making young people dark and callous in 2021.
Will the business partners who bet on him in the past be willing to take the gamble again?
(To be fair, that isnt a problem this generation or this artist created.
Hip-hop usually foots the bill when its time to tighten up restrictions on live shows.
Sporting events explode into riots; no one tries to ban the sport.
Fallout from Astroworld will hurt.
But will we take meaningful steps to keep this from happening again?
Will congresspeople and city-council members have to step in and litigate this one for us?
Is that what this is?
Travis Scott built his reputation on a live show that teeters on the brink of chaos.
Flirting with danger is his biggest appeal; rage is his ministry, his literal brand.
Will he admit he played with fire?
