Travis Scott’s Eden Park concert descends into ‘fight clubs’

Brawls broke out at the Travis Scott concert while fans waited hours for him to appear on stage.

As US megastar Travis Scott took to the stage at Eden Park last night, huge brawls broke out while punters waited hours for the rapper to perform.

Residents nearby have reported having their houses “vibrating” for hours and feeling like they were “in an earthquake” during the 50,000-strong gig.

Videos have emerged this morning of brawls breaking out in the stands and the general admission “mosh” pit last night.

Many of the videos show teenagers smiling while they throw a flurry of punches and kicks at a roaring crowd circling them.

Another dramatic video shows a boy getting flipped in the air while onlookers film and cheer.

A Herald entertainment reporter who joined the crowd last night said it seemed the groups wanted to “keep themselves entertained” before the show started.

“Speaking to some friends after who were in the mosh, they said a lot of people were scrapping for the fun of it.”

He said the “fight clubs” were a typical feature of Scott’s concerts.

“Fights are pretty common at Travis Scott concerts, with similar incidents happening at his shows in Australia recently.

“Travis and his fan base often encourage the anti-social behaviour that we saw playing out, so it’s not surprising that these ‘fight clubs’ were forming beforehand with no music to keep people entertained.”

He said the concert was “extremely loud” and his flatmates at his home 1km from the venue said the walls were “literally shaking”.

A police spokesperson described the mood of the concert as “good” and said they made no arrests.

Concertgoer Nicola told Newstalk ZB’s Marcus Lush last night there was “no music or warm-up” which she believes contributed to the fights. She said a DJ came on at 8pm for 15 minutes and then Travis came on at 9pm.

When the fights broke out, she said the security could not get in to break the violence as the crowd formed tight circles around the brawlers.

Nicola said a “few people” were taken out by security near the end of the concert and she was unsure if anyone suffered serious injuries.

The chaos extended beyond the walls of Eden Park as loud music travelled across Auckland, shaking the houses of those who lived close by.

Residents took to social media to report feeling like they were “in an earthquake” and having things falling off walls.

Last night’s concert was the first time Scott had performed in New Zealand after his infamous 2016 cancellation.

The rapper once ran his own music event called Astroworld Festival, which he started in 2018 in his hometown of Houston. He was headlining the 2021 festival, which had an attendance of 50,000 when a crowd crush left 10 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Eden Park CEO Nick Sautner said the concert was a “phenomenal show” that demonstrated the diverse range of events Eden Park delivers.

”We have independent acoustic consultants who monitor the sound internally and externally and last night we complied with our requirements. The concert concluded at 10.10pm, 20 minutes before our consent curfew.”

Auckland Council has also been contacted for comment.

Spokesperson for the Mt Eden Residents Association Shona Tagg said they had received “no complaints” from residents.

“It was a concert… you expect a bit of noise.”

She said another member of the association had walked the streets when concertgoers were arriving and said the crowd was “well-behaved”.

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