Event promoter describes what goes into planning massive music festivals

HOUSTON - Despite the tragedy at the Astroworld music festival that left eight people dead and scores injured, a lot of planning went into the event that will be the subject of investigation and legal action. 

The Houston Chronicle has described a 56-page 'event operations plan', designed by promoter Live Nation, to ensure a safe environment, but there are few people within the event-promotion industry who want to discuss what happened.

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Las Vegas event promoter Daren Libonati is willing to discuss what goes into the planning process, and he knows what he's talking about. 

"You do see things you wish you didn't, but you live with those and understand them," says Libonati.

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He helped plan the Las Vegas Route 91 music festival that ended with hundreds dead and injured when a gunman opened fire from a nearby hotel in 2017. While he will not speculate about what happened at Astroworld, Libonati says most events hinge on crowd response. 

"Fan behavior is not something that anyone controls," he says. "It's within the person, and all it takes is the wrong behavior by a fan to trigger so many other variables that happen."

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To deal with those variables, there is supposed to be a detailed plan, unique to the venue and artist, outlining responsibilities and a clear line of communication to deal with challenges as they arise. 

"A typical book will outline who's who; where they're posted; how they're working; what they're looking for," says Libonati. "You have so many variables with so many eyes on different things."

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Included in the plan are steps to end an event, if necessary. Whatever was in place at Astroworld, Libonati is reluctant to blame performers who, he says, may see an incidence of distress that they expect to be handled, while rarely knowing the full picture. 

"If every artist in the industry today were to stop every time a person went down or something happened in front of him, a show would never get through its show," he says.

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With LiveNation, and other promoters, now facing a growing number of lawsuits, they are not making public comments on what did and didn't happen at Astroworld. 

Regardless, Daren Libonati is sure that thoughts of this tragedy will certainly weigh heavily on the planning of any future music festivals.