Travis Scott plays first live public show since Astroworld tragedy

Travis Scott played his first live public show since the Astroworld show in Houston, Texas, in November last year in which had left nine dead and scores injured.

Scott performed to a sold-out crowd at Miami nightclub E11EVEN early Sunday morning (8 May) for a 45-minute set, which included his hit songs “Sicko Mode”, “Highest in the Room”, and “Goosebumps”.

He was later joined onstage by fellow rapper Quavo for performances of “Pick Up the Phone” and “Dubai S***”, with videos from the event showing Scott interacting with the A-list attendees.

It was reported last month that Scott will be playing at the Primavera music festival in Brazil, his first festival show since the Astroworld tragedy which had left 10 people dead and hundreds more injured on 5 November 2021.

The victims ranged in age from nine to 27 years old and had died from compression asphyxia after the crowd surged towards the stage. Roughly 300 people were injured and treated at the scene and 25 were taken to hospitals.

On 27 April, the Primavera Festival unveiled its lineup for several of its 2022 events, revealing that the rapper will perform at the Buenos Aires, Santiago and São Paulo dates in October and November. He is scheduled to perform in São Paulo on 6 November 2022 – one day after the first anniversary of the tragedy.

While Scott’s11EVEN show in Miami is his first public performance since last November, he has performed at a handful of private events including a pre-Oscars house party in March and a short set during a Coachella afterparty in April.

Scott is a main defendant in more than 380 lawsuits that have been filed by Astroworld victims and attendees, claiming billions of dollars in damages from him, festival organiser Live Nation, Apple and others.

The suits allege the music festival in Houston was negligently planned and staged and that the crowd surge during Scott’s performance was preventable.

All the defendants, including Scott, have denied the allegations against them. The singer has also repeatedly denied knowing how severe the situation was during his performance.

In March, Scott launched a new event safety initiative, Project HEAL, committing $5m (£3.9m) worth of funding to the cause. However, the grandmother of the youngest Astroworld victim – nine-year-old Ezra Blount – labelled Project HEAL a ”PR stunt”.