Travis Scott unveils new community and safety initiative in honor of Astroworld victims
"I will always honor the victims of the Astroworld tragedy who remain in my heart forever," the rapper says
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Four months after the Astroworld tragedy which resulted in the death of ten people, Travis Scott has founded the Houston-based initiative focusing on community building and event safety called Project HEAL.
Project HEAL is described as a “multi-tier, longterm series of community-focused philanthropy and investment efforts,” with multi-million dollar backing from Scott. The initiative features four distinct categories, including a Waymon Webster HBCU scholarship fund, an expansion of the CACT.US Youth Design Center, free mental health resources (spearheaded by Dr. Janice Beal), and a U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force of Event Safety.
“Over the past few months I’ve been taking the time and space to grieve, reflect, and do my part to heal my community. Most importantly, I want to use my resources and platform moving forward towards actionable change,” Scott writes in a statement posted to Instagram.
“My team and I created Project HEAL to take much needed action towards supporting real solutions that make all events the safest spaces they can possibly be,” he continues. “I will always honor the victims of the Astroworld tragedy who remain in my heart forever. Giving back and creating opportunities for the youth is something I’ve always done and will continue to do as long as I have the chance. This program will be a catalyst to real change and I can’t wait to introduce the rest of the technology and ideas we’ve been working on.”
The U.S. Conference of Mayors will seek to bring together different community stakeholders from “government, public safety, emergency response, health care, event management, music, and technology” to find solutions for modern event safety issues.
“At the conclusion of this research, HEAL, together with the US Conference of Mayors, will assist in the creation of a comprehensive report of recommendations to be presented formally and distributed to key stakeholders for adoption, including every Mayor of every town and city which hosts large-scale events,” the website reads. “HEAL will work towards advocating that this report serves as the new safety and security blueprint for all festivals and large-scale events.”
Scott is still currently facing numerous lawsuits from those injured and the families of the deceased. In December, the House Oversight Committee announced they would be investigating Astroworld and the cause of the mass casualty event.
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How about at a minimum you stop the show when there are medical and security vehicles rolling through the crowd until you know what’s happening. Next, hire staff that will actually respond to people literally yelling that people are dying
“Over the past few months I’ve been taking the time and space to grieve,
reflect, and do my part to heal my community. Most importantly, I want
to use my resources and platform moving forward towards actionable
change,” Scott writes in a statement posted to Instagram.
Then stop the fucking concert next time, you fuck.
the House Oversight Committee announced they would be investigating Astroworld and the cause of the mass casualty event.
The cause was Travis Scott riling up the crowd into a frenzy & encouraging them to rush the barriers.
He’s not blameless but I’ve been to hundreds of concerts in my life and never seen one laid out as badly as that stage area. There’s a lot of blame to go around with this one, Live Nation is at least as culpable as Scott in my opinion.
Travis Scott is a giant piece of shit. There’s multiple videos of him looking directly at victims of this tragedy and just continuing the show anyway, and now he’s trying to profit off something that he caused. Fuck him and anything he’s involved with.
Okay, but is he going to, I dunno, stop ignoring obvious and repeated signs of disaster? Stop inciting these incidents in the first place by egging on young frenzied fans while being fully aware of the risks of death? Stop with the “I’m sorry that you’re mad at me” non-apologies? Because those seem like more effective steps than an initiative that he was no doubt dragged into by his PR folks. (“Project SAVE TRAVIS SCOTT’S CAREER” probably doesn’t hit as well, though)
A crucial step: make an immediate direct line to any performing artist (or at least the frontperson/lead singer/etc.) available at all times so emergency responders can get the artist’s assistance to stop the show and clear the necessary areas for emergency response. As a failsafe, make the Front-of-House soundperson cut the music to make an emergency announcement in case the perfomer(s) are…uncooperative.A likely step: include an exhaustive waiver of liability that must be signed and fingerprinted by each attendee prior to entry.
A crucial step: make an immediate direct line to any performing artist (or at least the frontperson/lead singer/etc.) available at all times
That’s already possible. The guy on the sound board can talk directly to the performer through the performer’s in-ear monitors. The problem with that is the sound person is usually mid-way back through the crowd (or even further), and problems usually arise near the front of the crowd.
A likely step: include an exhaustive waiver of liability that must be signed and fingerprinted by each attendee prior to entry.
Theme parks don’t make you do that for a roller coaster. That would never fly for concerts.
I know they can talk to the performer (though some still don’t like in-ears). What I’m saying is that as part of show safety, especially in a large festival setting, I think it’d benefit everyone to have access to one channel of the mix that is not mutable for anyone’s onstage monitor mix so the performance can be stopped quickly—it might be a mic that shares a channel with the snare drum (obviously the mic can’t hit the same noise gate though). As for the sound person being midway and issues usually arising up front, that’s a communication failure. If someone up front can see the issue and call an ambulance, or if security sees an ambulance pull up, there should be a direct communication from security to production to halt the show, which eliminates any issues around POV. There’s a big gap between what’s already possible and what actually happens, and this is an opportunity to sort things out.As for the second one, I’m speculating and you may be right. But ticket prices being what they are now plus all the inconveniences around attending (parking, babysitters, venue policies for COVID, venue policies on bags, etc.), I don’t think a ton of people would turn around and leave when presented with the waiver.
I think it’d benefit everyone to have access to one channel of the mix
It shouldn’t be part of the mix because it’s unnecessary to have it part of the mix. Security has walkie-talkies/radios. Camera operators have headsets. Astroworld wasn’t caused by a breakdown of communications. It was caused by organisers & staff who didn’t care that people were getting hurt. There’s video of concert-goers climbing the stage & telling camera operators to stop the show because people are hurt. Those camera operators told them to shut up instead of getting on their headsets and telling someone else.
I don’t think a ton of people would turn around and leave when presented with the waiver.
I’m pretty sure that waiver wouldn’t hold up, legally. Take a second and think about waivers that you have personally signed in the past. How often have you done it? What was the waiver for? Going to a concert isn’t something that you should have to sign away life & limb for. Like I said, you don’t need to sign a waiver for a thrill ride. Signing one to attend a concert would never fly.
I don’t think it needs to be a hot mic, but I think the performer should have the first opportunity to address the crowd so they can maintain control, which means having that communication connection. If the performer fails to act quickly (let’s say within about 10-15 seconds), that’s when production shuts it down and makes an announcement of the situation and directs the crowd. I think that needs to be codified somewhere so negligence in those areas is more clear – especially by identifying production crew responsibilities.As for the waiver, I want to agree with you but I don’t think it’ll keep someone from trying it. Crowds of people are dangerous and I don’t see why attorneys for the insurers for these events wouldn’t be looking for ways to limit their liability.
I think the performer should have the first opportunity to address the crowd so they can maintain control
This was a situation caused by the performer riling up the crowd.
which means having that communication connection.
As I already said, that communication connection already exists. And it wasn’t used at Astroworld.
If the performer fails to act quickly (let’s say within about 10-15 seconds), that’s when production shuts it down
Production is paid by the performer, though.
I think that needs to be codified somewhere so negligence in those areas is more clear – especially by identifying production crew responsibilities.
But you’re talking about a concert where the production crew failed in their responsibilities. All your ‘solutions’ are meaningless when people can just choose not to do it. This wasn’t caused by a lack of communication. It was caused by people not giving a shit that other people were getting hurt.
As for the waiver, I want to agree with you but I don’t think it’ll keep someone from trying it.
Yes, it will. No lawyer in their right mind would advise that it’s a good idea.
Crowds of people are dangerous and I don’t see why attorneys for the insurers for these events wouldn’t be looking for ways to limit their liability.
If they were able to, they’d have done it already. Making people sign liability waivers to attend a concert is a stupid idea and you should feel bad.
I don’t think signing waivers for a concert is a good idea. I don’t like it. I just won’t be surprised if someone tries it. It’s not a recommendation; it’s a prediction, and one I hope is wrong. I feel bad that someone might do that, but not that I’m aware of it.As for the rest, you’re not wrong. I just think telling people they have a responsibility makes their meeting that responsibility a bit more likely. It also makes their negligence all the more clear in a legal setting. Those are good things. Obviously Scott blew it and made it worse. That’s where the rest of the crew shutting things down comes in. But sometimes abrupt endings to large shows can lead to riots, hence giving the artist a short window to do the right thing. This isn’t just about dissecting what went wrong with Astroworld; it’s about looking at that example and considering how that scenario plays out again in the future with other actors involved.
Like Travis Scott knows what half the words in that press release mean.
Yeah, they’re still gonna sue the shirt off of you.