Concert Junkie: Travis Scott's Astroworld Tour Review

I am not like a die-hard Travis Scott fan, but I do like his music. I honestly never heard a bad song by him. I do not own all of his albums, nor did I listen to his entire catalog. I just know the mass majority of his music. When Astroworld (the Album) dropped, one of my friends was playing it while we were on the way to a bar, and I was enjoying what I was hearing. As a result, I started streaming the entire album on my own. I can honestly say that it was one of the best rap albums of 2018.

As stated earlier, I am not a super fan of Travis Scott. The album was good, but it was not good enough for me to immediately blow money to attend a concert of his. How and why did I decide to purchase tickets to his show? Well I mentor a total of nine young black individuals. I call them my children. Each one of them graduated high school in 2018; before they left to attend college for the fall semester, I purchased graduation gifts for them. For one of my daughter, her name is Courtney, I actually missed her ceremony because it was the exact same day and time as my little brother’s. So I had to get her a quality gift since I could not be there to support her. Courtney is a HUGE Travis Scott fan; she is almost obsessed with him. I saw that Travis was starting his second leg of the Astrowrold tour at the beginning of 2019. As soon as the tickets went on sell, I bought them. She was so surprised; I am so glad I was able to make that happen for her. So that was my date to the concert.

The Atlanta show was held at the State Farm Arena. Outside the venue, Travis had the blow-up balloon of his golden head, which is the logo on the album cover. We immediately started taking pictures (of course). The show starts; Sheck Wes is the person that is opening. I only know ONE song from Sheck Wes, and it is Mo Bamba. I was not super gassed to see him; however, when he appeared on stage and a random beat dropped, I was on my feet. I do not know what he was performing, but his music sounds good live.  Sometime witnessing an artist live is the best way to be introduced to their music. He had good energy, and good stage presence. The visual effects were cool. There were neon lights flashing to the beat and fog everywhere. Sheck Wes did well. I went to the restroom real quick; I had a couple of drinks prior. While I was washing my hands, I hear MO BAMBA echoing through the wall. While my hands were still wet I RAN back to my seat. As stated earlier, that is the main song I know by him; I could not miss that performance. The energy was on 1000% for that three minute song. Everyone knew the words. Everyone was hopping out of their seats. It was a good moment. Sheck Wes got the crowd pumped.

After waiting approximately 20-30 minutes post Sheck Wes’ performance, Travis finally hit the stage. First let me describe his stage set-up. Travis really turned the arena into an amusement park.

There were two stages. The smaller stage had a miniature fireball ride on it with an Astroworld labeled ticket booth beside it. In the air, across the venue was a miniature roller coaster connected from the main stage to the smaller stage. The neon lights were on 1000%. His graphics were glowing in the dark and they were high definition, and three dimensional.

Travis opened the show with Stargazing, which is the very first song from the album. He appeared by hopping out of the ground. The energy is too good. The sound of the live band was BOOMING, along with the stage’s fireworks. His mic was auto-tuned. He hopped on the fireball and was riding it while performing Carousel. That was dope. Shortly after, he allowed members from the audience to come on stage to ride the fireball while he transitioned to the main stage.

My favorite song off the Astroworld album is No By-Standers. When he performed that, EVERYBODY WENT CRAZY! That is seriously like one of the best party songs in the history of turn-up music. While performing Can’t Say, that is when he hopped on the indoor roller coaster that stretched across the venue. Dopeness is all I can say. He put on a good show. I was entertained. Good stage presence. Amazing energy. Travis is a very good performer as well. He did not yell in the mic. He was not lip-syncing. He engaged with the audience. I was impressed.

I really appreciate attending concerts in the city of Atlanta. People need to understand that there are various artists that reside or have businesses in the city. When it comes to rap concerts, there is a 90% guarantee that there will be special guests. Travis Scott brought out a total of four artists during his set. The first person was 2 Chainz. They performed Whip (a new single at that time) and 4am, which is a track from 2 Chainz’s album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music. The second person was a shocker for me: Rick Ross. The Dj started playing BMF. I initially thought the Dj was about to do a music mix session while Travis was getting ready to perform another song. Nope! Rick Ross came out; he owned that stage with two songs. He performed BMF and his verse from Pop That. Lit! Pop That had the women getting loose. It is one of those songs women immediately start twerking to when the beat drops.The next person that graced the stage was Young Thug. To be honest, in the past I have been very critical of mumble rappers. Young Thug is a mumble rapper, but his music slaps. So I am a low key fan of Thug, his music sounds good live. He performed Pick Up the Phone, which is a track him and Travis collaborated on. He also performed Digits. Now I could not sing along to the lyrics because I do not know what he says in his song, but it was fun moment. The last artist that stopped by Astroworld was Future. I like Future. I have seen him live various times. His music is on a different level live. Now I do not know the first song Future performed; I believe he was previewing some new music. It sounded good though. The second song that Future performed though…..*INSERT FLAME EMOJI.* Future performed March Madness. Keep in mind that the date of the concert was March 22, 2019. That was like the most convenient bop for that moment. I felt like everybody received good luck for witnessing him perform that particular song during the actual month of March. Kudos to Future. I salute Travis for the surprises; it made the Astroworld experience extra special.

The overall ranking for the Astroworld experience: five out of five mics! Travis Scott really took his time and thoroughly planned this show out. I was on my feet the entire time. The ascetics, the props, the special guests, money well spent. Travis Scott as a performer deserves recognition as well. He had excellent stage presence. He engaged with the crowd. You could feel his energy from the stage. I sincerely enjoyed myself at this concert. The next time Travis Scott goes on tour, I am going to that show. Travis Scott is one of the best musical artists of this current generation, because he gives his all. Astroworld was a VIBE!