PicoBlog

Sentences I never thought I’d ever say – I saw Travis Scott in concert last night.

I am by no means a rap music fan, though at summer camp and university I was played Scott’s music frequently by friends who are huge fans. My little brother Andy loves it and wanted to go last night in Phoenix – so I figured it would be a good opportunity to see a very different kind of show.

Lining up to get in, I was immediately struck by the crazy difference in demographic than a jam band show (not a surprise, obviously). The crowd was mostly made up of high-school and university-age kids, with a handful older than that but few people over the age of 30.

One thing about the packed crowd at this show, however, was the energy. People knew every word to the songs throughout the tight and practiced performance, focusing mainly on material from Scott’s most recent album Utopia. Like many non-jam acts, most of the set is the same from show to show, but my brother told me there are usually some older “surprise songs” sprinkled in.

There were a handful of covers as well, something I didn’t expect or know much about in the rap realm – “Praise God,” a Kanye cover, elicited an especially massive response from the crowd.

Twice during the performance, Scott selected a fan from the crowd to be harnessed on to a floating platform during a song, an added element as the rapper’s connection to the audience ended up being much stronger than I would have expected going in.

The sound in the venue left a lot to be desired – I get that it was likely intentional to have the bass and drums cranked to obscene levels, but it made it incredibly difficult to hear any of the other instrumentations in any song and left the heavily-autotuned vocals unintelligible most of the time.

I did know a few songs in the encore - “Antidote,” “SICKO MODE,” and “Goosebumps,” all of which were staples at parties when I was in university. Definitely his “hits,” the audience seemed extra excited for these ones to close out the night.

While I’m glad I got to experience this kind of concert, don’t expect me to start a Travis Scott podcast any time soon – last night only gave me a greater appreciation for the unknown and communal vibe of a jam band concert. Nobody was sharing their Travis stats in line or pre-show ;)

For now…eight days until Goose in Europe!

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