I’m just going to put it plain and straight: This event was cursed from the beginning. Tickets were free and released via Dice the day before the event, and although the event was advertised as 21+ I had a sneaking suspicion they were being snatched up by teenagers (why wouldn’t they be).

The next day I had luckily gotten a ticket off the waitlist and shot down to Brooklyn right after work, as I was notified it was first come first serve despite the RSVP. Great. After a long trek on the subway, I made it down to the Brooklyn Warehouse, where there were people lined up outside 2 hours before doors. The line wasn’t relatively long at all, and I felt happy to come as early as I did since I was almost guaranteed to get in without issues (or so I thought).

The line was quieter than expected and there was a pinch of tenseness in the air, with hushed murmurs of “will our fakes work?” being asked time and time again. After making some light conversation and sharing a spliff, it was apparent to me that at my ripe age of 22 I’m considered ancient to these underage partygoers.

This false notion of a relaxed atmosphere was soon dispelled. In a sudden manner, an Uber Eats delivery guy tried to hit the Tokyo Drift on his bike (you’re not Robert Battinson bro) and skidded out, crashing into the adjacent warehouse across the street. His asscheeks were out and it’s safe to say the food was as crushed as his ego. There goes the 20 piece. He promptly took his L and got on his way, but little did he know that he set the tone for what was to come.

As the minutes ticked the line populated, and I saw more and more people walking straight up to the front. Larry David coined this move the “chat and cut”, which is the term for when someone casually cuts a line by going up to someone they know and talking to them. People were chat and cutting in droves and I was getting increasingly irritated by this, wondering why I came so early in the first place. Security guards stood there and did nothing, watching people walk up to wherever they want in line. This was a common theme. However, this was only the beginning. A feeling of angst lingered in the air as the opening approached and the characters in crowd became way more interesting, and way more rowdy.

There were streamers who were about as obnoxious as you can imagine, a guy dressed like Batman, another guy dressed like Spiderman, and some masked weirdo walking up and down the line trying to sell people shrooms (my memory is understandably fuzzy but that might’ve been Spidey).

While it was chill before, I can assure you that feeling was nowhere to be found again. Security told us to form lines and that’s when all hell broke loose: Several hooligans rushed up to the front and sent the once civilized line into a major frenzy. This marked the point of no return and ultimately served as the catalyst for pure, unadulterated pandemonium.

Once people rushed to the front from the right, an unfathomable number of goblins and Edgars ran to the left side of the line, breaking down the fence that was conjoined to the building and meant to protect the generator. Enter free for all. The way people stooped low once they have seen others stoop lower was an interesting phenomenon and the main reason the “line” really got moving. It was no longer a line, but rather a mob of people shoulder to shoulder, slowly yet aggressively inching towards the door. Any sense of sanity or rationality was thrown out the window at this point and nobody cared about the living, breathing human next to them.

It was all about getting into that warehouse. While I was squished up closer to another random person than I’ve ever been in my life, I witnessed some anarchic scenes. Teenagers were fighting, some dude got caught on the fence (I got pictures), and there was another guy who scaled the generator and watched the madness unfold from the safety of an elevated surface. I heard later that night that the generator ended up leaking and smoking.

As we got closer and closer to the door, the line got increasingly violent. People were pushing forward and backwards, causing others to be crushed and left without any air to breathe. Bottles and cans were flying, thumping poor bystanders in the head who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was no longer a sense of unity either among the crowd, but rather an every man for himself attitude, which put a lot of people in unnecessary danger. A girl was screaming for help at the top of her lungs, supposedly people were throwing up, and things just kept getting worse and worse. This genuinely felt like it could have been an AstroWorld type situation. A truly fucked up security failure that resulted in a catastrophic safety hazard.

Towards the door the security guard was disheveled, with broken glasses and herds of idiots trying to get past him at all costs. The front of the line was probably the most unhinged part of my journey, and the whole time I kept saying “this is gonna get shut down”. As soon as I saw the fence break earlier, I said the same thing. But after hearing multiple blood-curdling screams from the crowd and seeing an EMT to the side it only confirmed my beliefs. I somehow got to the top of the stairs, which held as many people as 4 fucking stairs could hold and the security guard was essentially fighting for his life.

He kept screaming “THE DOOR OPENS OUTWARDS, NOT INWARDS. YOU CANNOT GET IN IF WE CAN’T OPEN THE DOOR”.

What a shitshow this was. I held onto the door frame and pivoted myself inside, letting out the biggest exhale of my life and walking down a set of stairs. We were in a large, low ceilinged, grey, subbasement type of room, which surprisingly had security gates to help organize eventgoers. Where were these for the past two hours??? The best part of this whole ordeal is that I was not even asked for my ticket or RSVP, I was just given a wristband and let through after a quick pat down. Whoever organized this security needs to lose their job, swiftly.

I finally made it to the actual venue space and red lights engulfed the room. I was surprised that there were this many people inside already considering that it seemed like only a few went in at a time, but to be fair I couldn’t see very well on line when the best eyeline I had was between the cracks of people’s shoulders. I spent like $42 on 3 Whiteclaws (because I deserved it) and got to chugging.

It was amazing to breathe air that wasn’t shared by 7 people in the same 3 square feet. Funnily enough, I saw a familiar face from the line of The Hellp DJ set at SILO and asked him when he got to the venue. “Oh like 10 minutes ago”. Great, I waited all that time for nothing. I went out to the smoking/porta-potty area and indulged in as many cigarettes as my lungs could handle, attempting to cancel out the existential level of stress that the “line” provided me. The same people I saw fighting for their lives (as well as disregarding the lives of others) were outside, chilling, acting like not a damn thing happened. And the craziest part is that it was all still going on just beyond the gates that separated me from them. However, when I peeked out into the street from the lot, I saw blue and red flashing lights. I kept thinking “thank god I’m inside now”, which in hindsight was pretty stupid of me.

There was a parking lot behind the smoking area which only separated us by a fence, and there were numerous derelicts jumping it and subsequently getting escorted outside of the venue with haste. Security should have been on this timing from the very jump. This was a disaster and a total security failure. I had even heard that were cops outside with riot shields, I’m not sure how true that is although I would not be surprised. I make conversation with a new friend who brought me back to humanity again (shoutout Chris) and suddenly, the lights flash white inside the warehouse and “I Am Music” is written on the screen.

Just when we thought we were about to be rewarded for our patience and perseverance, security guards yell to us “shows over, everyone leave immediately”.

Well, that was that I guess. Chris and I walk all the way back to the subway, seeing many disappointed fans in backwards basketball jerseys with their heads hung low. I’m shown a story post from Carti’s insta stating how upset he was and couldn’t help but laugh.

Whose fault was this?

While security was blasphemously negligent, I can’t help but to be more pissed off at the fans. You did all that just to get the show cancelled. Most of you shouldn’t have even been there. Should I expect better? Not really considering the crowd Carti caters to but it did leave me ultimately disappointed in humanity and the youth.

Not once did this feel like an event. This was closer to a Lord of the Flies esque social experiment, showcasing the ugliest side of our species and the dangerous consequences of disorganization. Honestly, I’m glad that some of you people didn’t get to see Carti. While I didn’t get to see him either, you depraved orcs deserve the worst in life and should never think of stepping outside again, for the sake of my eyes and for the safety of the public.