Travis Scott’s massive show in Rome sparked controversy after it generated “earthquake-like” levels of movement, featured a surprise appearance from Kanye West and reportedly injured 60 fans.
The rapper brought his new album “Utopia” to Italy on Monday (August 7), with one performance in Rome before kicking off his tour of the same name. Originally, the first performance was to take place in the Pyramids of Giza (Egypt), but it was finally cancelled.
However, the concert at Italy’s Circus Maximus earlier this week was more chaotic than expected, with many fans reportedly injured at the concert.
CNN was the first to report that at least 60 people at Scott’s 60,000 concerts required medical treatment after someone brought pepper spray to the show and used it on the concertgoers.
It was also reported that while no one was seriously injured at the event as far as we know, a 14-year-old boy required medical attention after trying to scale a false wall to enter the concert and fell 13 feet.
NME has contacted Travis Scott’s representatives for comment.
After the concert, people fear that live shows at the venue are damaging the old site, and have since launched a campaign to stop all future events.
These requests for change came from Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, who called for the end of all future shows at the venue. “The Circus Maximus is a monument. It’s not a stadium, not a concert hall,” he said. “These mega rock concerts put you at risk, including the nearby Palatine Hill. Rock concerts should be held in stadiums so as not to endanger public safety.”
Located at the foot of the Palatine Hill, close to the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus has been one of the city’s most popular concert venues in recent years, hosting performances by Guns N’ Roses, Bruce Springsteen and many more in 2023.
As reported by CNN, local fire services received “hundreds of calls” from concerned residents during the rap concert, who mistook the movement of the crowd for an earthquake in the Italian capital.
Monday’s set also featured surprise appearances from Kanye West, who joined Scott for “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Praise God.”
Introducing the controversial musician on stage, Scott told the crowd: “There is no UTOPIA without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West, there is no Rome without Kanye West.”
The controversy surrounding his recent concert in Rome comes in light of the Astroworld 2021 tragedy, which claimed the lives of ten contestants through “compression asphyxia”. In June, Scott was cleared of any criminal charges for the incident.
More details about his upcoming tour, in support of his fourth studio album, will be released soon and tickets are available here.
In a three-star review of Travis Scott’s just-released ‘Utopia,’ NME described the album as a “high concept” that is “exquisitely executed,” adding: “Brave new life is meek on the Houston rapper’s debut album from 2018, but he doesn’t have much to say about what would happen if we got there.”
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