LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville concert venues are watching closely following the tragedy and fallout after a crowd surge killed music festival goers over the weekend in Texas.
Louisville has become a growing concert town with bigger headliners by the year. Are music venues here reexamining their safety protocol.
The short answer is yet.
WHAS 11 spoke to representatives of the Old Forester's Paristown Hall, a venue with a 2,000 capacity -- compared to 50,000 regularly at Astroworld Festival at NRG park. Very different scenarios, but folks are saying the tragedy is still a reminder to be prepared.
"There's always a risk assessment that's done [for any show]," said Christian Adelberg, vice president for marketing and communications for Kentucky Performing Arts. "The age range, Is it an excitable crowd, a heavy drinking crowd?"
Paristown Hall will be full when when musician and Louisville native Jack Harlow takes the stage for his "No Place Like Home" shows in December.
While that has locals buzzing, Adelberg and others in charge of music venues like this one are planning, maybe even a little extra now.
"To determine the number of security officers we need," he said.
Across the country, concert safety -- or lack thereof -- has been put back in the spotlight after the hugely popular Astroworld Festival, run by rapper Travis Scott, hosting 50,000 turned deadly.
What investigators are calling a 'crowd surge' killed eight people and injured hundreds. Investigators are looking into causes, like whether they were trampled or suffocated in the process.
Adelberg tells us while he can't speak to specifics from Houston, he says the incident reinforces their safety protocols.
"To examine everything that we're doing," Adelberg said.
He says some of the keys involve having enough security personnel, and having many of them elevated.
"If a crowd surge or dangerous event begins, they will be able to see it," Adelberg said. "See if things are starting to push toward the stage in any kind of dangerous way."
For a crowd of 2,000, Adelberg tells us the magic number for him sits at around 16 to 17 security guards to cover.
For someone as popular as Harlow, maybe even more.
"Perhaps there will be an increase," Adelberg said.
It's important as Louisville becomes home to more headliners.
We also reached out to John Grantz, overseeing Waterfront Wednesday and other large scale music events across the city.
He also says he can't comment on what happened in Houston, but did speak to the importance of communication and having enough staff on hand.
We reached out, but couldn't get comment from each of the other four venues Harlow will be performing at next month, including two run through Live Nation -- which also runs Astroworld Festival.
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