CALIFORNIA, USA — Jasmine Smith lives in Sacramento and is a frequent concert goer. When she heard that eight people were killed at rapper Travis Scott’s music festival Astroworld in Houston Friday night, she was outraged.
“I’ve heard of passing out in festivals, I’ve seen several people pass out at festivals before, but I’ve never heard of someone passing away,” Smith said.
Smith plans to go to Rolling Loud, a hip hop festival, in San Bernardino this December, and says she is now thinking differently.
“Normally, I want to be as close to the front as possible, but now, I feel like I’m going to be good more towards the back,” Smith says.
Malaya Muldrew, of Natomas, says nowadays she doesn’t feel safe going to a concert.
“Me personally, I don’t go to concerts or big gatherings because - not even just that one - but the stuff that happens here locally in Sacramento. I try not to go to those because I like my life and I want to stay alive,” Muldrew said.
Long time security expert Hector Alvarez explained how people can stay safe while at mega-events such as Astroworld.
“You don’t want to fight the crowd, and you are not going to be able to, even some of the horrific images remind us of that,” Alvarez said.
He says people should try and move diagonally through the crowd to get to safety and protect their head if they find themselves on the ground.
“Having worked at venues for a long time, you can feel the change in the crowd. You can feel the change in momentum. When there’s a change, it’s time to start paying attention,” Alvarez said.
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