Travis Scott will not perform at this weekend’s Day N Vegas Festival, Variety has confirmed. The headlining appearance at Las Vegas Festival Grounds was scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 13, less than a week after his own Astroworld festival took place at Houston’s NRG Park, where eight attendees died, ranging in age from 14 to 27. Sources describe Scott as “too distraught to play” and reveal that he will provide full refunds for all attendees who bought tickets to Astroworld.
In the days after the tragedy, much has been learned about the sequence of events that led to the cardiac arrests of several concert-goers, at least one stabbing (of a police officer with a hypodermic needle), along with hundreds more who were injured in the 50,000-strong crowd.
According to the Houston Chronicle, police and firefighters declared a “mass casualty” event at 9:38 p.m., 32 minutes after Scott’s set began, when crowd surges reportedly started. The paper reported that promoters agreed to find a way to cut the concert short soon after the 9:38 “casualty” report, but that the show continued until Scott ran through his planned setlist and finished as scheduled at 10:15 p.m.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner has defended letting the show play out, saying that an abrupt halt could have caused a riot, but noted that the festival was not undermanned and that the number of officers on hand should have been sufficient to handle a crowd of 50,000 under normal circumstances.
The concert, which included Drake coming on stage for for the final songs of Scott’s performance, was being webcast live to a worldwide audience by Apple Music. The second night of the festival, planned to unfold Saturday, was immediately canceled as the extent of the casualties of the first night became evident.
Like Astroworld, Day N Vegas is a general-admission festival, where under normal circumstance, fans are left to jockey for prime positions. Scott was to hit the main stage — dubbed the Frank Stage — from 10:45 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. on Saturday night, following sets by Lil Baby and Doja Cat.
Roddy Ricch, who played ahead of Scott at Astroworld — and on Saturday, pledged his festival earnings to the families of those who died — has a main stage slot at Day N Vegas on Friday; Kendrick Lamar is set to headline. Tyler the Creator headlines on Sunday.
No word yet from AEG, corporate parent of Goldenvoice, the festival’s promoter, about a replacement for Scott’s Saturday night slot or a rearrangement of current set times.
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