LOS ANGELES — It has been nearly a week since Lucas Naccarati was jamming to Travis Scott’s hit ironically called “Escape Plan." For the LA native, looking back at videos and images of Astroworld in his phone still haunts him.

“You can see the pain in this kid’s face right here,” said Naccarati while pointing at a young man in a photo who was standing behind him at the concert. “I could’ve been the one dying because right after, I almost did,” he said.


What You Need To Know

  • Eight people died at Astroworld, and several hundred more were injured

  • The Astroworld tragedy lawsuit has more than 100 plaintiffs

  • Travis Scott canceled his performance at the upcoming Day N Vegas festival

  • Coachella organizer Goldenvoice did not reply to our request for comment of their planned festival safety

Naccarati survived the deadly surge that happened at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas.

He remembers the chaos that ensued with 50,000 people packed so tight — as headliner Travis Scott took the stage — that if you lifted your arm in the air, you couldn’t even fit it back down by your side.

Jumping, surging and then almost instantaneously, an inability to breathe. As people tried to escape the masses, Naccarati tried to help people who were injured.

“He looked blue from the lips, his eyes rolled back. I immediately started giving him CPR,” he said.

The mosh pits and adrenaline-inducing atmosphere — it’s all very characteristic of these kinds of concerts.

Brian Garris has been covering the entertainment industry for 25 years for local radio. His emphasis is the largest music festival in Southerne California, Coachella, which began in 1999. He saw Rage Against the Machine perform that year — and they’re set to play Coachella again in 2022, as is Travis Scott.

“When they (Rage Against the Machine) took the stage, I probably went back 10-15 feet. I don’t even remember moving my legs. The crowd was just insane,” Garris said.

The Astroworld tragedy has a lot of people talking about safety at future festivals and what needs to change. Garris explains that while people going to Astroworld may be routine “ragers,” as they’re called, other festivals such as Coachella bring in a wide range of artists — from someone like Travis Scott to someone like Lady Gaga — and thus a wide range of inexperienced fans.

“If they get caught up in a crowd like this, they not going to know what to expect. It could catch them off guard. It’s kind of a dangerous situation,” Garris said.

Garris is calling for more security at the upcoming Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, due to the sheer amount of people it brings — and a lot more partitions and divisions with the general admission crowd — to avoid the tightly packed groups. Whatever organizer Goldenvoice does, he said, they better be prepared for the perfect storm.

“The political climate this country is in, people have their own opinions…and fans being kind of cooped up for a couple years. This could be their first festival, first concert, first time out and about. You got to be careful,” Garris said.

Naccarati agrees security is integral at music festivals. He said security didn’t know how to do CPR, and were begging people to help.

Despite it all though, for the love of music, this isn’t the end of festivals for him.

“I do think I would go back again," Naccarati said. "I’d just watch from the back of the crowd."