Greetings from Utopia. Travis Scott has taken the country by storm with his Circus Maximus Tour fresh off the release of his long awaited album, Utopia. As with most Travis Scott albums, the project was packed with features from all of the relevant artists in the rap scene right now. In many ways, the album acted as a time capsule of the rap era we find ourselves in. To say this tour and its subsequent stop in Nashville was highly anticipated would be an understatement. People were very excited to experience Utopia.
The crowd was treated to a short set from Teezo Touchdown hot off the release of his debut album and his feature on Scott’s track, Modern Jam. After an experimental and great performance, the crowd readied for Travis to take the stage. Suddenly, a robotic voice came over the loudspeaker telling people to open the mosh pits in preparation for the first song. Travis appeared on the stage in an explosive fashion performing HYAENA to the crowd’s approval. From this moment on, the music would rarely stop moving seamlessly from song to song. Songs such as MODERN JAM, Aye, and SIRENS were crowd favorites. Another part of the show involved a floating head simply called ‘The Parasail’. Every few songs the music would stop for a second for Travis to select two fans to ride the contraption as it soared around the stage with lasers being projected out of its eyes. As insane as that may sound, it is entirely real.
After a short costume change, Travis played Utopia’s biggest hits. I KNOW ?, MELTDOWN, and TOPIA TWINS electrified Bridgestone Arena in a way I have yet to see in any show. Little did the crowd know, the big finale was yet to come. Fan favorite track, FE!N, featuring Playboi Carti was played as the finale of the main set. Then it was played again… and again… and again. Long story short, it was played six times. Every time the energy only grew as Travis encouraged the fans to sing along. Given the loud synths of the song, everyone was a little dazed by the conclusion. Before anyone could process what happened, Scott broke into a quick encore of his biggest hits. Antidote, SICKO MODE, and goosebumps were played in quick succession to thundering applause.
As all seemed to wind down, Travis said his goodbyes and walked off the stage singing TELEKINESIS before the cameras all cut to the fans in the crowd screaming the song’s feature by SZA. One thing is a given at a Travis Scott concert: You will leave tired. One of rap’s highest rated performers does not disappoint when it comes to quantity or energy in songs. Even outside of the pit, you are in for a tiring night. That said, it was all worth it to visit Utopia. Safe to say, Travis Scott will continue to be THE name to follow in rap.
- Thomas W. Hagan
