Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy: The 7 Largest Revelations from Netflix's New Documentary

“I consider Astroworld 2021 was not an accident,” crowd security skilled Scott Davidson says throughout the brand new Netflix documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. “It was an inevitability as a result of lack of foresight and the abandonment of primary security protocols.” Davidson’s skilled breakdown is just one of many insights the documentary provides into what occurred on November fifth, 2021, when Travis Scott’s headlining Astroworld Pageant efficiency in Houston, Texas led to the deaths of 10 individuals.

The most recent movie within the Trainwreck sequence (which has additionally explored Woodstock ’99 and the notorious “poop cruise”) begins by taking a second to remind the viewer about the place we as a tradition had been in 2021 — simply beginning to re-enter the world post-lockdown. It’s that power that amplifies the joy round Scott’s efficiency that day, an power that introduced a various group of individuals to the occasion. Lots of whom discovered themselves combating to outlive due to the huge crowds in attendance.

Watching Trainwreck actually provides you an appreciation of how troublesome it’s to handle massive crowds of individuals safely — an essential accountability, given the lives in danger from compression asphyxia. Lives like these of concertgoers Rodolfo Peña and Brianna Rodriguez, whose family members are interviewed within the documentary, their grief palpable over their loss. Beneath are the largest revelations from the documentary, which is a tragic watch, however a strong one.

50,000 Tickets Have been Offered… for a Venue that May Safely Host 35,000

In response to Davidson, Stay Nation reportedly offered 50,000 tickets to Astroworld — with out confirming whether or not 50,000 individuals would have the ability to safely attend the live performance. Within the aftermath, consultants discovered that in actuality, the house solely had viewing capability for 35,000. “Which might imply they deliberate for a lot of 1000’s extra individuals than may safely view Travis’ efficiency.” The documentary features a textual content message from a competition organizer despatched on October twenty sixth: “I really feel like there is no such thing as a means we’re going to match 50k in entrance of that stage. Particularly with all of the bushes!”

A Safety Failure Early within the Day Made Issues Worse

Early into Trainwreck, the documentary illustrates one large subject: Whereas the solar was nonetheless shining that day, an untold variety of concert-goers overran the safety checkpoints on the venue — there’s ample footage of individuals knocking over fences and steel detectors of their pleasure to get inside, starting at 9:00 a.m. in keeping with the Houston Chronicle. So, not solely was the live performance allegedly over capability simply based mostly on ticket gross sales, there have been finally an unknown variety of individuals on the grounds past that tally.

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Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (Netflix)

The Venue Structure Was an Difficulty

With assistance from on-screen diagrams, Trainwreck reveals that attendees entered the viewers space from the aspect of the stage, right into a T-shaped barrier system. “This was alleged to make the stage safer, however as an alternative its configuration created a entice on the left-hand aspect of the stage [where people were entering]. So the compression simply constructed and constructed [and] individuals couldn’t escape,” Davidson says.

Moreover, the principle stage was solely reserved for Scott’s efficiency that night time, which meant that 1000’s of concertgoers entered the sector on the identical time.

Organizers Knew This May Be Lethal Minutes Earlier than Scott’s Efficiency

Travis Scott started taking part in at 9:02 p.m. that night. At 9:00 p.m. a Stay Nation worker despatched the next textual content: “Stage proper of major is getting crushed. That is dangerous. Pull tons over the rail unconscious. There’s panic in individuals’s eyes. This might worsen rapidly. I might pull the plug however that’s simply me. I do know they’ll attempt to battle by means of it however I might need it on the report that I didn’t advise this to proceed. Somebody’s going to finish up useless.”

Once more, this textual content was despatched at 9:00 p.m. Two minutes earlier than the efficiency began. And attendees interviewed for the documentary say that because the present started, they had been already feeling like they couldn’t breathe, due to the way in which the gang had amassed.

Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (Netflix)

Travis Scott Stored Performing Even After Recognizing Somebody Needing CPR

At 9:42 p.m., Scott briefly paused mid-song to level out that somebody within the crowd wanted assist. (At that time, positively a couple of particular person was in want of help.) However as an alternative of stopping the present, he saved performing, which struck Kirby Gladstein, a photographer overlaying the present that night time, as unusual. “I’ve seen quite a few artists cease a present — not simply ensuring any individual was okay, however cease the present. And no person was doing that.”

It was at 9:51 {that a} Stay Nation supervisor went backstage to speak to the audio engineer who would then have the ability to converse to Scott through his headpiece. The proof features a transcript of what the supervisor stated: “We’ve got 4 energetic CPRs occurring, two are almost certainly useless. It is extremely very dangerous — there are extra crush victims than I’ve ever seen in my 25-year profession. We’ve got to have a dialogue in [Scott’s] ears, letting him know what’s occurring. We have to shut this factor down in eight minutes at 10 o’clock.”

Scott would proceed to carry out till 10:13 p.m.

Whose Job Was It to Shut Issues Down?

It was clear from the start of Scott’s efficiency that it shouldn’t go on. And in a greater state of affairs, Davidson says, “any key determination maker from police, fireplace, EMS or Stay Nation ought to have been in a position to in a short time provoke a present cease course of, what ought to have been so simple as a literal or figurative button to push.”

Sadly, on this case the occasion operations plan specified that solely two individuals from Stay Nation had the “delegated authority to cease the present.”

This included the police presence: Former Houston police commander Mark Lentini says on digicam that the police division was paid by Stay Nation to supply police safety. “We don’t have any management over the planning, the methods, safety guards, any of that stuff. We’re there for regulation enforcement.”

Scott Davidson in Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (Netflix)

Stay Nation’s Perspective

The top of the documentary contains Stay Nation’s response to the movie’s allegations, which reads as follows:

“The sellable capability for the venue was set by SMG World and authorised by the Houston Fireplace Division (HFD) earlier than tickets went on sale. The variety of tickets offered, and attendees on web site didn’t exceed the authorised capability. HFD, SMG World, and the Houston Police Division (HPD) had been conscious of the occasion plans, which had been developed according to security codes. The Pageant Security & Danger Director and HPD representatives agreed to and executed an early present cease.”

Lastly, one thing that’s much less a revelation and extra of an commentary…

Nathan Fielder Would possibly Have Some Perception Right here

On the finish of the movie, Davidson says that “in all of the failures of Astroworld, a standard denominator is a failure to talk fact to energy. There have been many missed alternatives to talk up, for any individual to boost their hand and say ‘Trip. This doesn’t make sense. We’re going to harm any individual.’”

This finally ends up being just about an identical to the themes explored in Season 2 of The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder digs into this matter by means of the lens of aviation security, however his focus within the present is analogous, analyzing the the reason why co-pilots within the cockpit won’t converse up once they suppose their captain is making a mistake. The widespread denominator in each circumstances is easy: Talking up saves lives.

Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy is streaming now on Netflix.