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BRASÍLIA – Concertgoers waited for hours in temperatures that reached a heat index of 138 degrees to see Taylor Swift’s first show of the year in Brazil. Many of them were looking forward to the concert experience of their dreams: Swift’s Eras Tour had finally arrived in their country after the ticket servers in the USA collapsed and their own film was made.
They hadn’t expected that when they said goodbye they would feel like they had survived a nightmare.
Nilton Santos Stadium felt like an oven to many. Some said event staff forced them to leave their water bottles, fans and umbrellas at the gates. Inside the $400-ticket VIP area, metal plates covered part of the floor and burned some people who tried to sit on them. The stuffy air and the growing crowd made breathing difficult. Some had to pay $2 for a small cup of water, while others found themselves in crowds too dense for vendors to reach.
Dehydrated fans shouted for water and held signs pleading for help, hoping Swift would see them as she sang under colorful stage lights. The singer interrupted her performance to tell staff to help those in need, and at one point she herself threw a bottle into the audience.
A 23-year-old woman died after Taylor Swift’s Eras tour stop in Rio de Janeiro on November 17. Heat levels exceeded 120 degrees that day. (Video: Allie Caren/The Washington Post)
Amid the chaos, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, an early entry VIP ticket holder, tried to have some fun. A friend recalled how the 23-year-old jumped up, sang and cried when she saw Swift – then fainted in the middle of “Cruel Summer” and died of cardiac arrest in a hospital. She was the only reported death at the show, but fire officials said more than 1,000 others had fainted by the end of the night.
A week later, the international Eras Tour appears to be back on track. Swift has performed three other shows in Brazil, including two at the same stadium – although the country has taken responsibility after the November 17 show and the Brazilian company that organized the show, Time4Fun, is the subject of government and police investigation.
Serafim Abreu, the CEO of Time4Fun, appeared to take some of the blame in a statement in which he also expressed his condolences and support to Benevides’ family.
“We realize that in addition to all the other measures we have taken, we could have taken some additional measures, such as creating shaded areas outside the stadium or changing the time originally scheduled for the shows [and] “We are placing greater emphasis on allowing people to bring disposable water cups,” Abreu said in a video posted to the company’s Instagram page Thursday.
Meanwhile, according to promotional posts on the company’s social media accounts, Swift’s team has continued to work with Time4Fun on subsequent concerts in Brazil. The star was back at Nilton Santos Stadium on Sunday, where she performed a piano version of the emotional ballad “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” for the first time on her tour, a gesture that some fans saw as a way to honor Benevides.
No one in the Brazilian government or in Swift’s fan base that The Washington Post spoke to blamed the singer or her management team for the disaster. But some have criticized the megastar for not doing more to acknowledge the tragedy other than posting an Instagram message on the evening of Benevides’ death – “It is with a broken heart that I say we have a fan before my show tonight have lost” – and postponed the show. Due to the extreme temperatures, the performance cannot take place the next evening.
In fan group chats and on social media, the Swifties debated whether to protest with a minute’s silence and “Justice for Ana” signs at Monday’s concert in Rio de Janeiro, but decided against it.
“It’s not Taylor’s fault. It is 100 percent the fault of the company that organized the event,” said Maria Hortênsia Villasboas, a 29-year-old participant. “But I think she should have helped the family. I know Taylor is devastated, but so is Ana’s family. Nothing will bring Ana Clara back, but some help from Taylor would be useful.”
In a statement, Benevides’ family said that all costs for her trip to Rio de Janeiro and the repatriation of her body “were paid only with the help of family, friends and crowdfunding collected on the Internet, without any collaboration with the organizer T4F.” “nor municipal and state public institutions in Rio de Janeiro.”
A person familiar with the situation said Swift and her team have spoken with and donated to Benevides’ parents, and the family has been invited to meet the pop singer at a show this weekend.
It’s unclear what, if any, safety precautions Eras Tour staff took before the deadly show began, or how Time4Fun was chosen to organize Swift’s shows in the country. However, a person familiar with the situation said Swift’s team did not engage the company directly.
Brazil’s national consumer secretariat launched an investigation after the concert to determine which party or parties should be fined for violating fans’ rights as consumers. Based on the evidence so far, National Consumer Minister Wadih Damous said Time4Fun was the subject of the case.
The agency is specifically investigating how the company distributed water at the concert and used sheet metal flooring that could have increased the heat index in the stadium. (Time4Fun did not explain why metal sheets were used for concert floors.) Depending on “the severity of the matter, the error itself and the damage caused,” Damous said, the responsible party could be fined up to $2.6 million threaten.
Police also opened an investigation this week to determine whether Time4Fun’s actions could be considered a crime that endangered the life or health of participants, police in Rio de Janeiro said.
Time4Fun is a well-known entertainment company in Latin America and was once considered one of the top concert promoters by Billboard magazine. It offers event promotion services; cash register operations; Sales of food, beverages and merchandise; and operating the venue during live concerts, art exhibitions and sporting events, its website says.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Time4Fun argued that “banning the entry of water bottles into stadiums is a requirement of public bodies.”
This is technically true. The country’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security prohibits entry into the venue with objects that can be thrown and injure a concertgoer, such as sealed water bottles. The rule serves as a general security measure at venues in Brazil and around the world. But some Brazilian music festivals, including Rock in Rio and The Town, have allowed fans in with less dangerous water bottles without caps.
“In developing markets, both local and international content providers do not have the scale and/or physical structure to promote their own content and are therefore looking to partner with local promoters who have proven execution and financial capacity to “To make this possible.” “Quality events on a viable economic scale,” says the investor website Time4Fun.
To prevent another disaster, government officials announced emergency measures on November 18, including: increased medical presence and expanded access to drinking water at subsequent Eras Tour shows, which Time4Fun agreed to. A government regulation published Wednesday enshrined many of the new practices. It allowed people to enter events with bottled water for personal use and required easily accessible drinking stations to be provided within venues.
Benevides’ death has raised awareness of concert victims, including a woman who died after being injured at Robbie Williams’ Australia concert on November 16, a day before Swift’s first concert in Brazil. At the end of the show, the woman tried to climb over a row of seats and lost her footing, a spokesman for the venue said.
In 2021, Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert in Houston became one of the deadliest concerts in US history after a stampede left ten people dead and hundreds more injured.
In the case of the November 17 concert – which was linked to an extreme heat wave that was widely known in Brazil – better preparation might have prevented a tragedy.
Kristie L. Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, emphasized that heat-related illnesses and deaths are preventable. But it requires coordination between community leaders, event organizers and emergency personnel to monitor participants and let them know how to protect themselves.
Many major cities such as Miami, Phoenix and Los Angeles have hired heat officers, personnel dedicated to preparing for extreme heat events and ensuring information reaches everyone affected, Ebi said. Early warning and response systems that warn of extreme weather events can also be a proactive way to inform communities.
Given climate change, she said, combating heat illnesses and deaths is increasingly necessary.
“According to climatologists, more of these heat waves are already occurring. Heatwaves have increased in frequency, intensity and duration,” she said. “And the forecasts all indicate that this will continue.”
Meanwhile, in Brazil, many attendees of the Nov. 17 concert say they are struggling with trauma.
“I cried a lot after the show,” said Mariana Luz Dantas, a 22-year-old veterinary student. “There was a feeling of disrespect towards us, anger and also fear that Taylor would never want to return to Brazil.”
Jennifer Hassan in London contributed to this report. Dias reported from Brasília.
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