Dozens fall ill during Travis Scott’s Rome concert

Dozens of fans required medical attention following a suspected pepper spray incident during a Travis Scott concert in Italy.

Police are investigating after around 60 people received treatment for eye and throat irritation at the rapper’s show at Rome’s 60,000-cap Circus Maximus on Monday (7 August).

Ansa sources indicate that the use of pepper spray by an audience member may have been to blame, while Euronews reports a 14-year-old was also hospitalised after falling from a height, having attempted to elude security to enter the venue.

The show, which saw the live premiere of Scott’s new album Utopia, came less than two weeks after the last minute cancellation of his scheduled concert in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The American star was joined by surprise guest Kanye West – making his first appearance since posting antisemitic slurs online last year – at the Rome gig to perform the latter’s songs Praise God and Can’t Tell Me Nothing.

“The Circus Maximus is a monument. It is not a stadium, not a concert hall. These mega rock concerts put it at risk”

Meanwhile, CNN reports that the director of Rome’s Colosseum has called for an end to concerts at Circus Maximus after the tens of thousands of fans jumping in unison at Scott’s gig sparked fears of an earthquake.

The 32-year-old became the latest act to play the ancient site, which is close to the Colosseum, following shows by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Imagine Dragons earlier this summer. The venue has hosted the likes of the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Maneskin and David Gilmour in previous years.

“The Circus Maximus is a monument. It is not a stadium, not a concert hall,” Alfonsina Russo, director of the head of the Colosseum Archeological Park, tells Italian news service AGI. “These mega rock concerts put it at risk… Rock concerts should be held in stadiums so as not to endanger public safety.”

Houston police published its full report on the 2021 Astroworld tragedy, in which 10 concertgoers died during Scott’s headline set, last month.

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