60 People Reportedly Injured by Pepper Spray at Travis Scott Concert

The director of Rome's Colosseum is calling to end concerts at the nearby historical site of Circus Maximus where Scott performed

Photo: Frank Schwichtenberg

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Aug 10, 2023

Since his Pyramids of Giza concert in Egypt didn't exactly work out, Travis Scott chose to commemorate the release of his heayweight-heavy new album UTOPIA by performing at the next best place: Rome's Circus Maximus, from which he drew the name of the record's accompanying film that A24 has never heard of.

Although he recently also announced his first Houston show since the fatal 2021 Astroworld crowd surge, the rapper's concert in Italy on Monday (August 7) has reportedly left 60 fans injured. The performance has also caused further controversy, having caused "earthquake-like" shaking and led the director of the Colosseum to call to end concerts at the nearby historical site.

First reported by CNN, at least 60 people in Scott's crowd of about 60,000 were left in need of medical attention after the show at Circus Maximus after someone brought pepper spray and used it on concertgoers. According to the publication, nobody was gravely injured to their knowledge, but one 14-year-old tried to scale a false wall to sneak into the concert and fell 13 feet.

They likewise reported that Italy's fire service received "hundreds of calls" from residents of the capital city who feared there had been an earthquake, especially when the rapper brought out disgraced special guest Kanye West.

This is not Scott's first concert in recent history to cause earthquake concerns; it was a similarly seismic situation when he performed in Milan last month. (To be fair, Taylor Swift's Eras tour show in Seattle also recently caused record-breaking activity comparable to that of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.)

Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum Archeological Park, is now calling to end concerts at Circus Maximus — a literally ancient Roman entertainment venue.

"The Circus Maximus is a monument. It is not a stadium, not a concert hall," she told Italian news service AGI. "These mega rock concerts put it at risk, including the Palatine Hill nearby. Rock concerts should be held in stadiums so as not to endanger public safety."

Russo is campagining for only opera and ballets to be staged at the grassy oval arena, which doesn't have seating and would leave audiences to stand on the flat surface or sit on its outer edges. This summer, Circus Maximus has hosted concerts by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses and Imagine Dragons.

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