Organizers behind this year's deadly Astroworld Fest promoted the show with footage from 2 years ago, hyping up the fact things could get crazy ... and that people could get hurt.
Check out this promotional video that was published earlier this year in May and posted by the official Astroworld Fest Instagram account -- which shows a number of news clips and civilian clips from 2019 spliced together ... demonstrating the chaos that unfolded ahead of that year's show, including the fact some people were trampled while trying to get in.
THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT PULLED UP TO RAGE !!!! pic.twitter.com/zrgd4gDWSj
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 13, 2019
The video seems to lean into the notion Astroworld Fest was deemed dangerous/potentially treacherous, embracing that identity ... almost like they were inviting people back with that specifically in mind. You could even interpret this as a ... enter if you dare type thing.
At the end of the video, they tease the dates for this year's concert. BTW, this is the same video that Travis himself posted on his Twitter account shortly after Astroworld Fest wrapped in 2019 ... when he was accused of encouraging the wild behavior.
He wrote at the time, "THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT PULLED UP TO RAGE !!!!"
This repackaged video used to promote this year's event has allegedly been scrubbed from Astroworld Fest's official YouTube page and other pages, but it is still up on their IG account.
On its face ... this video is pretty damning in the fact that it plays up the apparent inherent danger that lies with attending Astroworld Fest -- and rather than try to pivot away from that ... it would seem folks involved in putting the concert together encouraged round 2.
This is evidenced by the 8 deaths and dozens of other injuries that occurred on Friday night -- not to mention several video clips that appear to show concertgoers trying to relay their concerns about people passing out and dying ... but being mostly ignored and drowned out.
There are also videos that show Travis himself was at least somewhat aware of people falling into distress while he performed -- apparently acknowledging an ambulance golf cart that was working its way through the crowd, as well as taking note of someone who'd passed out in front of him. While he did alert for help for the latter ... TS carried on with the show.
— cherliess (@CherlyBonilla) November 6, 2021
After the fact, Travis described how devastated he was ... sending condolences to the deceased's family members, and promising to work with the authorities. He also denied knowing the severity of things while it was all unfolding -- saying he simply didn't realize people were dying out there. That was echoed by Kylie Jenner as well.
Travis took to Instagram to share his sadness surrounding the event ... again emphasizing he was going to work with Houston PD.
Speaking of the police ... a criminal investigation has been opened into this, as it appears at least one person might've been injected with a needle.
Meanwhile, on the civil side of things, lawsuits are starting to roll in ... and Travis has already been named as a defendant.