I’m outside Brixton Academy on a Saturday afternoon. At this time, Astoria Walk should be buzzing with the exuberant chatter of music fans queuing shoulder to shoulder, hours before a concert begins. Instead, it’s ghostly quiet — as it has been ever since the doors closed on 15 December.
That evening ended in tragedy. Afrobeats singer Asake’s set came to an abrupt end after just two songs as a man took to the stage. ‘We have to stop the show,’ he announced. ‘They breached the door. You’ve got 3,000 people who have broken the doors.’ A horrific crush in the foyer killed two people: Rebecca Ikumelo, a 33-year-old concert-goer, and Gaby Hutchinson, a 23-year-old security guard. Two other attendees were seriously injured.
