UPDATE: Aug. 26, 2025, 6:04 p.m. The man who was arrested for assaulting a woman at the Rüfüs Du Sol concert at the Rose Bowl Stadium earlier this month appeared in court on Monday.
The GRAMMY Award-winning electronic band, RÜFÜS DU SOL is known for their cathartic emotional music that usually feels like a spiritual experience; however, at their recent sold-out concert at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, fans took to social media to share their horrible experiences that included violent attacks, crowd crushing, and logistical nightmares with parking and shuttles.
As part of their Inhale / Exhale World Tour 2025, presented by Live Nation, RÜFÜS DU SOL performed at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Saturday, August 16, 2025. The sold-out Los Angeles show also featured special guest Glass Beams.
With Doors at 6 p.m. and the show kicking off with Glass Beams at 7:30 p.m., RÜFÜS DU SOL took the stage at 8:45 p.m. for about two hours.
Ahead of gates opening, tour promoter Live Nation held a RÜFÜS DU SOL Pre-Show Happy Hour hosted by Rose Avenue and Mate Maker Co. at Brookside Clubhouse. The Happy Hour began at 4 p.m. and featured special guest DJs, happy hour drink specials, food trucks, and more. The happy hour was intended to help “beat the traffic” and “start the night early with friends.”
However, as one TikToker reported on the concert mess: “what they don’t realize is most people in LA, they don’t wanna show up at a concert at 4 p.m. That’s a long ass day. We are there to see RÜFÜS DU SOL, we are not there to fuck around for three or four hours having mixers of whatever.”
Aside from half an hour to an hour plus shuttle line waits, depending on when you left the concert. A fan who left during the final song “Music Is Better” reported waiting a half hour, while others who watched the entire concert endured one-hour + shuttle line waits.
Among the long laundry list of complaints was crowd crushing in tunnels, people pushing in overcrowded stairs, aggressive drunk people, arguments, fans blocking exits, incredibly long shuttle lines, and, sadly, assault. A woman and her friends were brutally attacked by a man for accidentally spilling a bit of their drink on him while trying to get to their seats. In a statement, the victim shared that she was punched in the face by this man which resulted in significant bleeding and being knocked out.
First reported by the Festive Owl, the victim of the assault shared her traumatic experience.
I need your help to find THIS MAN WHO ASSAULTED ME.
This happened on 8/16/25 at the Rüfüs Du Sol concert at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA. Section 12-H, row 20, seats 107 and 108 (attacker and his companion).
We were at the concert to see our favorite artist, but the night turned traumatic. When we first got to our seats, a drink was accidentally spilled, lightly splashing the man in front of us. We apologized immediately, but he yelled that it was intentional and ran off, leaving his companion behind. We apologized to her and thought it was over.
About 30 minutes later, he returned, screamed us, and threatened violence. I tried to calm the situation and apologized again — and the next thing I remember, I woke up in the medical tent an hour later and missed the entire show.
This man PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE, Knocking me out and causing significant bleeding, while he continued attacking our group. Another friend tried to protect us, but the attacker fled into the crowd and hasn’t been found. A police report was filed.
We are traumatized. If anyone knows this man or his companion, PLEASE reach out. He should be held accountable for this assault.
If you recognize this man or have any information, please contact Shelby at: ShelbyElston0530@gmail.com
A man now identified as Hawthorne resident Julio Cesar Lopez Zavala was arrested on Aug. 21, with “formal charges pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.”
Investigators credited video footage and tips from the public that led to his identification and arrest.
All across social media, specifically Instagram and TikTok, fans at the concert were quick to call out tour promoter Live Nation, with overselling shows at the Rose Bowl, citing past concerts with Karol G and Coldplay also being densely packed with crowd-crushing threats.
Countless attendees have left negative comments on the Instagram accounts for RÜFÜS DU SOL and the Rose Bowl Stadium, calling out the event, organizer, and promoter Live Nation. Several fans made comparisons with their RÜFÜS DU SOL experience to the tragedy of the 2021 Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, a music event founded by Travis Scott, and organized and promoted by Live Nation. The festival resulted in 10 deaths and thousands of injuries. As reported by NPR, Live Nation has a long history of safety violations.
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Fans also attributed much of the chaos to the fact that there was no assigned seating for general admission tickets which were the seats in the outer rim of the Rose Bowl (aka nosebleeds). This caused a lot of arguments and seat stealing when attendees left to use the bathroom. It took some concert goers a half hour to get back to their seats.
“I had a great time but it was definitely scary,” shared my friend Sarah in a DM. “We got there early enough to find a spot we were happy with. We were in GA and as far as I’m aware there was no assigned seating there. At one point I had to go to the bathroom really bad and as we made our way down there were so many people blocking the stairs and the tunnel entrance. We finally made it through the tunnel and security blocked it off and wasn’t letting anyone in or out. We were wondering why we couldn’t even get out to go to the bathroom. People were very angry on both sides and security seemed like they were very unequipped for the crowds.”
In light of the violent attacks, RÜFÜS DU SOL shared a statement in their Instagram Stories expressing their feelings.
“Delivering moments for our fans to gather and celebrate safely is what we live for. We have been heart broken to hear of the act of violence that took place during the opening act on Saturday. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere and the fact that this happened at one of our shows was devastating to learn about. Local law enforcement are actively investigating the situation. Anyone with information to assist the investigation should please contact Pasadena Police Department.”
With Oasis coming up at the Rose Bowl Stadium, September 6 and 7, and the event organized and promoted by Live Nation, we hope fans will experience a much safer concert and smooth transportation logistics. I don’t want to experience the frightening nightmare that thousands of fans, including some of my friends, experienced at RÜFÜS DU SOL at the Rose Bowl Stadium.
Please note: a request for comment has been sent to the concert event organizer and promoter, Live Nation. We will update this article if and when they share a statement.
UPDATE: Aug. 22, 2025, 8:03 a.m. A 23-year-old man from L.A. County has been arrested in connection with the violent assualt of a woman at the sold-out concert at Rose Bowl Stadium, KTLA5 reports.
UPDATE: Aug. 22, 2025, 8:03 a.m. This story was updated with to include an arrest has been made.
UPDATE: Aug. 20, 2025, 9:16 a.m. This story’s headline was updated to include “attendees reporting” crowd crushing situations.
UPDATE Aug, 18, 2025, 10:21 p.m. This story was updated to include Rüfüs Du Sol’s statement.
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