Travis Scott / Sheck Wes

Rogers Arena, Vancouver BC, January 25

Photo: Joshua Peter Grafstein

BY Kassandra GuagliardiPublished Jan 26, 2019

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It's the amusement park fantasy you always dreamed of as a child, on steroids. "Astroworld" isn't just a tour, it's a full-on life-altering experience.
 
Watching Travis Scott come up over the last six years has been nothing short of exhilarating. Vancouver has personally witnessed the 26-year-old Houston rapper graduate from filling small nightclubs in 2013, to festival stages and stadium support slots, to now making his mark with a blatantly unrestrained complete arena shutdown.
 
Naming his tour after the now closed Six Flags in Houston, Travis Scott aims to share the spirit of that very amusement park with nearly every major city in North America. Beginning the second leg of "Astroworld Tour: Wish You Were Here" in Vancouver, La Flame brought his signature stage-raging and classic mosh-pit-inducing energy to Rogers Arena for yet another sold-out show. Although Vancouver missed out on the addition of Atlanta rapper Gunna (he was billed for the first leg of the tour only), Cactus Jack signee Sheck Wes made up for any hard feelings by providing contagious energy while performing tracks like "Live SheckWes Die SheckWes" and the city-wide favourite "Mo Bamba."
 
Complete with two stages that sat opposite one another, connected by a custom rollercoaster, Travis opened his performance with shooting pyrotechnics and psychedelic visuals. After maniacally bouncing across the stage to "Stargazing," Cactus Jack lead into "Lose" where he quickly and effortlessly strapped himself into the one-man Ferris wheel to continue performing. Within the first three songs the crowd had already caught the vibe and were raging so hard you feel the vibrations to the core. Diehard Travis fans belted out every lyric to tracks from his older catalogue, like "Uptown" and "Mamacita," while newer fans were treated to viral favourites like "Butterfly Effect" and "Antidote."
 
The carnival set design was just as much aesthetic as it was functional. As Chase B cued up another track from side stage, Scott made few lucky fans night's by giving them a pass to ride the Astroworld coaster. Giving all his energy to the crowd, and even the shoes directly off of his feet (for real, he performed in socks for quite a few songs), Travis Scott made it his duty to ensure everybody in the crowd left with a special memory of Astroworld.
 
Closing the show with "Sicko Mode" and solidifying his place within the upper echelon of touring arena shows, Travis Scott's high-energy performance and cutting-edge stage plot made the "Astroworld Tour" worth every moment and dollar spent. If you were lucky enough to attend, you witnessed one of the greatest hip-hop shows on earth. From Astroworld with love, wish you were here.

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