Concert Venues Enact Safety Precautions

Concerts are always a light-hearted and fun environment for primarily teenagers and young adults to sing some of their favorite songs along with thousands of other people and the artist themselves.

However, sometimes the audience can take this to another level and to the point where it becomes dangerous for other audience members and the performer themself. One example of this is a safety-precaution rule that Harry Styles had to implement at his concerts due to the fact that fans would loosen their water bottle lids and squeeze the bottle while aiming toward the stage, pelting Harry with water bottle caps. This started as a joke from the audiences until it became frequent enough that it became a hazard for him while performing. As a result of this and to fix the issue, Harry no longer allows water bottles at his concerts and all purchased water is poured into plastic cups, without lids.

In addition to this, a more general issue is how fans constantly throw stuffed animals, food, and even their phones on stage in attempts to catch the artist’s attention. There are various videos on Tiktok of Harry Styles holding a chicken nugget and of other artists dodging objects being thrown on stage. While it is not uncommon for artists to interact with their audience, it has gotten to the point of becoming a hindrance to the performance.

Sophomore, Ava Maughan, has been to many concerts and has had several experiences with precautionary actions being taken. In a description of a Harry Styles concert from his 2022 “Love On Tour” tour, she said, “people would throw things on stage, whether that be phones, hats, bottle caps, etc to get the attention of the artist. For obvious reasons, this is dangerous so artists can personally request for these changes to be made, specifically in Madison Square Garden.”

In contrast, this necessity for concert precautions can go both ways. Travis Scott is known for his high-energy concerts and has been reported for encouraging fans to climb over barricades and partake in other dangerous behaviors. At a now infamous Astroworld performance, Travis Scott endangered his audience while performing by neglecting to control a crowd surge or acknowledge fans who were calling for help from under it. The music drained out the sound of these people in need of assistance and things got out of control; leading to 10 lost lives by the end of the concert. Since this event, celebrities have been more aware of safety precautions that should be implemented in their concerts in order to keep both their audiences and themselves safe.