On Saturday, Oct. 18, Lil Yachty’s post-football-game concert was cut short following Sacramento State’s homecoming victory over Northern Colorado, which drew an attendance of over 20,000.
After the fireworks display, the rapper performed less than 10 minutes before he exited due to misconduct, according to President Dr. Luke Wood. Many attendees rushed the stage, coming from the bleachers and surrounding areas to get a spot where they could hear the artist.
According to Sac State’s student new site The State Hornet, Lil Yachty stated on Instagram Live that he ended the show early because attendees were falling and injuring themselves to get to the stage.
Wood stated on Instagram that the concert ended due to behavior from community members, not the students, that didn’t meet the campus’ standards of decorum. Wood also wrote there will be a revised plan for today’s game against Montana.
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Sac State revealed those safety measures in an Instagram post, stating that increased staff and security personnel will be deployed and that additional crowd control measures will be implemented.
Additionally, all students and guests who wish to enjoy the concert must remain in the stands.
Community members attempting to jump the railing at or access the track, field, or any area beyond the barricades will be banned from Hornet Stadium and may face penalties including arrest.
Students attempting to do the same will result in disciplinary consequences for violating the Student Code of Conduct.
In an interview before the game, Wood said they’ve doubled the number of police and security for the upcoming game.
“Obviously, safety is our highest priority and we believe that everyone is gonna have a great time and that we’re going to show the entire nation on ESPN 2, who’s a better team during the Panda Bowl.”
Rapper Quavo will perform after tonight’s game and rapper and singer Blxst will perform after the Hornets’ final home game.
Crowd safety expert weighs in
Steve Allen is CEO of Crowd Safety in the United Kingdom, a global crowd safety consultancy, and a consultant for the Pink Bows Foundation.
The Pink Bows Foundation was established by the family of Madison Dubsiki, who died at the Astroworld Festival in 2021 at the age of 23. The foundation focuses on providing education and training to enhance safety at events.
Allen said from what he could gather from videos he watched and reading articles, what happened at the game was a result of “poor planning.”
“You’re expecting 20,000 audience to sit in the actual stands and not enter onto the playing field,” Allen said. “To me, that’s foreseeable that they’re going to want to migrate to the front of the stage area.”
He said he gathered that the sound system didn’t allow the audience to clearly hear the artist, which is another reason the crowd migrated and compressed toward the stage.
“People want to be as close to the artist as they can be,” he said. “But to me, clearly without all the evidence in front of me, but just from the outside looking in, this hasn’t been planned properly, benchmarked against industry best standards. They were lucky.”
Allen said there needs to be measures in place that are “robust” enough to prevent crowd migration, because issues will occur.
“Risk Assessment is always the starting point, which is what we advise,” he said. “Record that risk assessment, share that with the stakeholder group. Go through the ‘what if’ scenarios, have tabletop exercises, ‘What if this happens?’ I would recommend bringing a concert event safety team and a concert production team that are well-versed with doing concerts.”
Allen also highlighted the importance of the “show stop” procedure, which he has trained over 450 people on worldwide. He pioneered the procedure when he was touring with Oasis in 1998.
“We have a mechanism to stop that show rapidly, to regain control of the incident and reduce the likelihood of an incident turning into a major incident or tragic outcome,” Allen said.
The procedure has now become a recognized international standard and it’s internationally accredited, according to Allen.
“Anything can go wrong, and surely we want to be comfortable in the knowledge of that venue, that venue director, the venue safety management team, if the wheel does come off, they’ve got a system in place to regain control so that we all go home safely,” he said.
Greg Micek contributed additional reporting.
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