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On August 7, 2023, Travis Scott and Kanye West delivered a performance at the historic Circus Maximus heritage site in Rome. The concert drew a massive crowd of over 60,000 enthusiastic attendees. Unfortunately, the night took a sad turn when an audience member sprayed the crowd with scorching pepper spray, injuring over sixty individuals.
In addition, the vibrations caused by the enormous number of people bouncing around in excitement caused locals to worry about earthquakes. Multiple sources stated that hundreds of calls were made to the local fire department due to tremors.
Netizens took note of the incident and were quick to voice their dissatisfaction with the singer's involvement in it on social media, as evidenced by the tweet below.
The tragic incident at Travis Scott's Utopia concert is being compared to the 2021 Astroworld tragedy, which has sparked a demand for a prohibition on holding concerts at heritage sites
The fear of damage to the heritage site was echoed by the director of the Coliseum, Alfonsina Russo, who in a statement, called for the ban of concerts on such sites, stating:
"The Circus Maximus is a monument. It is not a stadium, not a concert hall. These mega rock concerts put it at risk, including the Palatine Hill nearby. Rock concerts should be held in stadiums so as not to endanger public safety."
People also responded to the concert incident by reacting on social media, particularly on X (formerly known as Twitter). Many condemned the incident, with some drawing comparisons with the Astroworld 2021 festival tragedy. A few others came out in the singer's support, claiming it was not his fault that the incident took place.
The Rome incident is not the first time Travis Scott has been involved with concerts gone wrong, with the Astroworld 2021 festival tragedy being one of the prior incidents.
The tragic incident at Astroworld resulted in the loss of ten lives and left numerous individuals injured due to a crowd crush. The festival, which was established by the singer, recently received clearance from a grand jury on June 29, 2023, regarding his involvement in the incident.
More about Travis Scott and his music career
Travis Scott started his career with two back-to-back mixtapes, Owl Pharaoh, and Days Before Rodeo. The mixtapes, released on May 21, 2013, and August 18, 2014, respectively, failed to chart but were praised for their artistic vision.
The singer made his chart breakthrough with his debut studio album, Rodeo, which was released on September 4, 2015. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart and achieved platinum-level sales certifications from the RIAA.
The singer achieved commercial stardom with his third studio album, Astroworld, which was released on August 3, 2018. A chart-topper on several major album charts, the album sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.
The album also received the Album of the Year award at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards.
