Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:LYV) found itself on the defensive regarding safety concerns over its When We Were Young festival planned for October when music fans began complaining online that the company was behind November’s Astroworld Festival, which left 10 fans dead.
What Happened: When We Were Young is a single-day event scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, with 65 emo and pop-punk acts from the early 2000s performing on three stages. Among the talent slated for the event: All-American Rejects, Avril Lavigne, Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eats World, My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Wolf Alice.
Presale tickets are available starting tomorrow via the festival’s website at $224.99 for general admission and $499.99 for VIP and hotel packages.
What Happened Next: After the event was announced, social media began buzzing over the ticket pricing and Live Nation’s involvement in the event, with one Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) user going so far as to suggest that the company jacked up the admission costs to help recoup legal fees incurred from the Astroworld tragedy, which occurred when a crowd of 50,000 watching a Travis Scott performance surged to the stage, resulting in 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Live Nation issued a statement that insisted When We Were Young is being planned with safety as a primary objective.
"The safety of fans, artists and staff is thoroughly planned for among event organizers and in coordination with local authorities," a spokesperson told Newsweek. "We have seen a lot of excitement around this festival and we look forward to putting on an incredible event for all of the fans this October. We encourage fans to check the festival website and socials for all of the latest updates."
Live Nation added the Las Vegas Festival Grounds “is a large event space that has held multiple other large scale events and festivals in the past.” The venue, which spans 26 acres and has a capacity of 85,000 people, is scheduled to be the site of Live Nation’s hip-hop and R&B-focused Lovers and Friends festival from May 14-15.
