Ventilation and Free Water During Live Shows in Light of the Recent Tragedy at Taylor Swift’s Concert

Do you believe that you should die while attending a concert? Before you think what an insane question you’ve just been asked, imagine this scene. Cast your mind back to a concert you'd been waiting for your entire life. Remember the excitement you felt when you found out one of the shows would be happening in your country. Recall buying the best tickets. Now, you have them in your hand, and you are going to see your idol, front row. You've seen the concert a couple of times on a grainy livestream on TikTok and waited for that one day when you'll be there. You've marvelled at the snippets of performances: videos taken from seats right in front of the scene, in front of the singer. Now it is your turn, the day has come. You're waiting in line, but the weather is hellish. There’s a heatwave, and the temperature oscillates around 59.3 degrees Celsius. Inside the stadium it’s even worse because of the crowd and....the closed ventilation doors. That’s right, there is no ventilation in the building and to make matters even worse you are forbidden from bringing your own water. Needless to say, the water available is scandalously expensive. Under circumstances like these, the catastrophe is sure to befall. 

This tragic incident occurred at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert in Rio de Janeiro, resulting in the death of a 23-year-old fan named Ana Clara Benevides Machado, as confirmed by the event organizers, Time4Fun. Machado, who was not feeling well during the concert, received immediate attention from firefighters and paramedics. She was initially treated at the Nilton Santos Stadium's medical station and later transferred to Salgado Filho Hospital. Despite an hour of emergency care, she sadly passed away. 

It’s an absolutely heartbreaking picture, but the most devastating fact is that a situation like this one could have been prevented. The Eras Tour is on the track to become one of the highest grossing tours of all time. The crowds of fans who couldn’t get tickets gather in front of stadiums in hopes to catch a glimpse of this spectacular show. However, the organizers at the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro value the profit above anything else, including people’s safety. They didn’t want to leave the doors open so as to prevent anyone without a ticket from peering inside, but in the process, they risked the safety of people who'd spent lots of money to attend the outstanding show. The greed did not stop there as the people in charge limited the availability of water by selling it at an incredibly high price in a few stands inside the venue. The situation was so bad that during one of the shows Taylor Swift herself realised how overheated and thirsty her fans were, and began throwing her own bottles of water to the people in the crowd. It’s truly an outrageous situation when the artist has to intervene and take care of the problem herself, while it is the organizer’s job to ensure the safety of the audience. 

There are voices claiming that it would be unfair to let people who didn’t pay for the concert to still see it from the outside of the venue and therefore the doors should remain closed and it would be a fair point had the situation in Rio de Janeiro been less extreme (grammar). People also believe that concerts should bring profits not only to artists, but also to the venue; however, there are other ways to ensure that without risking anyone’s lives. 

The occurrence has been brought to attention of the authorities, and the investigation into this tragedy is underway. For the remaining shows in Rio de Janeiro the doors were opened and free water was made available, but it is saddening that such tragedy had to occur for things to be improved. And might I add that it’s still a norm in many venues all around the world to sell overpriced water during concerts and to close the doors of the stadiums. This must come to an end as the safety of the people is a priority. After all, they oftentimes spent huge amounts of money on tickets and therefore should be granted a pleasant and safe experience.