Watching the Astroworld documentary as a parent had my heart in my throat

An Aussie mum reflects on the terrifying reality of crowd surges and what we need to teach our kids before they head to a music festival.

When the new Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy documentary dropped on Netflix, I pressed play thinking I already knew the story. 

Ten young lives lost in a crowd crush at a Travis Scott concert in Houston. I remembered the headlines. The chaos. The disbelief. But nothing prepared me for the visceral dread that crept over me as the footage rolled - unfiltered, raw, and horrifyingly real.

As a parent of gig-loving kids, my heart was in my throat the entire time. I couldn’t help but imagine my own children in that crowd - excited, pulsing with adrenaline, and utterly powerless once the wave started to close in.

Worse still, I’ve been there myself. Not at Astroworld, but in the thick of a crowd where the mood shifts in an instant - from euphoric to something else entirely. I’ve stood in packed festival fields, the crush of bodies making it hard to lift my arms. I’ve felt that flicker of panic. The only difference is, every time I experienced it, the artist stopped. They saw the signs and called it out. “Take a step back. Make space. Help each other.” And the crowd listened.

That didn’t happen at Astroworld.

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Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. Image: Netflix.

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“It should have been the best day of our lives, but it was the worst”

On November 5, 2021, the third annual Astroworld Festival took place at Houston’s NRG Park. Founded by Houston rapper Travis Scott, the event had built a huge following. There were no shows in 2020 due to the pandemic, so this was meant to be the grand comeback. The lineup was stacked: Bad Bunny, Tame Impala, Earth, Wind & Fire, SZA, 21 Savage, and more. But the main draw, of course, was Travis Scott himself - Houston born, larger than life, and known for turning his concerts into high-octane chaos.

Astroworld wasn’t just another gig. It was a branded experience built on hype and aggression. Scott’s fans call themselves “ragers,” a name that reflects the wild, mosh-heavy energy at his shows. When it came time for his headlining set, the festival grounds shifted into something closer to a stampede.

From the moment the gates opened, the signs were there. Fans burst through barricades. Security was overwhelmed. Thousands of unticketed people made it inside. Police tried to get it under control, but the crush was already underway.

As the countdown clock ticked down to Scott’s entrance, the stage - designed exclusively for his performance alone - became the centre of a dangerous funnel. With every second, the crowd surged tighter. Then the music started.

And it didn’t stop.

Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. Image: Netflix.

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People don’t die at festivals. So what happened?

In total, ten people were killed. Eight were pronounced dead that night, two more died in hospital in the days following. The youngest victim was just nine years old. All of them died from compressive asphyxia - crushed so tightly they couldn’t breathe.

The documentary is difficult to watch. Phone camera footage of fans screaming for help amid the chaos, crying out that they couldn’t breathe. Bodycam footage of paramedics performing CPR while the show continues. Interview after interview with heartbroken friends and families. People begging security for help that never came.

And at the centre of it all, Scott kept performing.

The blame doesn’t lie with one person or moment, and the film doesn’t suggest it does. But it does lay bare a catastrophic failure on multiple levels: poor planning, lack of crowd control, and a culture that prized chaos over safety.

There are moments in the film that are hard to shake - teenagers crushed against barricades, footage from phones that capture the moment people begin to fall. And over it all, the music pounds on.

As parents, we have to talk about this

Live music is popular, most of it presented by Live Nation, the same production and promotion team that put on Astroworld. The lineups are bigger than ever. And our kids - especially our teens - are desperate to experience them. Who wouldn’t be, after the years we lost to lockdowns? But after watching Astroworld, it’s clear that “have fun and be safe” just isn’t enough anymore.

We owe it to our kids to talk about what can go wrong - and how to protect themselves when it does.

Here’s how we can help prepare them:

1. Talk about crowd dynamics: Help your teen understand what a crowd surge feels like. It’s not just “people pushing.” It can be deadly. If you can’t move your arms or take a full breath, it’s time to get out.

2. Make a safety plan: Agree on a meeting point if they get separated from friends. Make sure their phone is fully charged and set to low-power mode.

3. Choose standing areas wisely: Encourage them to stay further back from the stage, especially if it’s an artist known for intense crowds. No experience is worth risking their safety.

4. Trust their instincts: If something doesn’t feel right, leave. No gig is worth sticking around for if it means ignoring red flags.

5. Watch the doco together: Yes, it’s confronting. But it opens the door to important conversations. And it’s easier to talk about safety hypothetically than when your kid’s already in the middle of a crowd.

We send our kids out into the world hoping the adults around them will act when it counts. But Astroworld showed us what happens when they don’t. So until the industry catches up with its duty of care, we have to prepare our kids ourselves.

Because concerts should give them memories - not nightmares.

Originally published as Watching the Astroworld documentary as a parent had my heart in my throat