Hip hop superstar Travis Scott arrived with much fanfare in Australia for his widely anticipated tour, after the release of his Grammy-nominated album 'Utopia' in mid-2023.
Scott has taken the 'Circus Maximus' tour across the world playing sold-out shows to his endless array of die-hard fans. The Australian leg played Sydney last week with a surprise appearance from The Weeknd, dropping in as his tour neatly intersected Scott's.When I sat down at my seat looking over the giant Marvel Stadium ahead of the main event (22 October), the moshpit was already raging with fans creating massive circles as giant wrestling matches happened concurrently at the centre of the writhing mass. I wasn't sure if I was looking at a battlefield or a moshpit; the energy in the pit was frankly anxiety-inducing.
The surprise opener for Melbourne ended up being New York artist Sheck Wes, famous for his multiple collaborations with the likes of Travis Scott and Kanye West. Sheck played a brief, 15-minute set scattered with his biggest hits like 'Mo Bamba' and 'Stick'.
During his set, the audio mix struck some rough patches that made it very difficult to hear his vocals; much of the early part of his set sounded like pure bass, however this was sorted towards the end of his set and the sonic clouds parted for his final track with crystal-clear audio.
Travis Scott entered the stage with untamed energy, opening with the track 'Hyaena' from his most recent album. From the first moments of his set, I was blown away by the theatrics of the show; Travis invited a group of fans onstage to perform with him and shortly after, two people in gorilla costumes also danced onstage with him.
The show's staging was supremely impressive, with wild lights and pyrotechnics spanning the entire set. Every song had some fireworks and explosions surrounding Travis, and it was indeed an incredible spectacle.
Scott performed a variety of songs from his career, from 'Utopia' to his second mixtape 'Days Before Rodeo', pumping out a huge set. Throughout the tour, Travis has had a running gag with fans, which is to play his hit song 'FE!N' multiple times in a row. Tonight was no exception.
Every song on the set list kept giving more and more energy to an already ecstatic audience, as Travis stood above the crowd like a commander giving orders to his soldiers. With every move he made, the audience reacted in a wild fashion, and every Auto-Tuned note he sung had the audience yearning for more.
Scott had nothing to prove before he got onstage, but he certainly came off stage cementing the fact he is currently one of the gods of modern-day rap. Any music he releases is immediately assimilated into the group consciousness, and fans will turn up en masse to watch their hero perform.
Travis Scott is truly one of the most energetic and dedicated acts I have ever seen in the hip hop space, and like everyone else I'm pumped to see what he does next.
- written by Dante Griffith
