Travis Scott performs hip-hop spectacular for 'real ragers' in Newark
Travis Scott fans are feeling “Fe!n” after the rapper's Tuesday, Dec. 26, two-hour show at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Hearing “Fe!n,” a single from Scott's latest album, “Utopia,” 10 times in a row will do that to you. “Fe!n” on the repeat button has become a thing for Scott — he recently did it at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
At the sold-out show in Newark, he preceded each rendition with a dedication — the “real ragers” at the end of the arena, a shirtless kid in a hat, and the “real, real computer mob.” The track — a real banger, especially when performed live — merges trap rap with industrial rock and EDM. Each performance was about a minute long, abbreviated from the album version.
On stage, "fe!n" is pronounced somewhere between "fine" and "fiend."
Toward the end of the “Fe!n” performances, Scott focused his attention on the audience in the stage's two pits, imploring them to split the area into two groups, not unlike heavy metal or punk rock audience when forming a mosh pit.
“Real ragers hold the line,” Scott said.
Instead of both sides smashing into each other when the song began like a rock concert, everyone started jumping in place. Fans seemed too busy filming with their cell phones to engage in full-bodied moshing.
Still, Scott's Utopia: Circus Maximus show was a physical, visceral experience in a haze of smoke, vocoder vocals, live streams and booming bass. There wasn't a live band, but the bass on the recorded backing tacks were as booming as this reporter's ever heard.
The arena-long stage looked like a painted Styrofoam rock formation from “Land of the Lost,” with jets of smoke and fire. Fans throughout the night were given rides on what Scott referred to as a parasail, but it looked more like a giant Charlie Brown head that flew over the audience on wires. The face's crooked smile was a little menacing, but it was more about having a good time.
This was Scott's first New Jersey concert since Nov. 5, 2021, when 10 people died during his Astroworld festival show in his hometown of Houston. He did not refer to it.
In Newark, fans — including French Montana, and Offset and his kid — were in the moment.
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Expect to see Scott on an even bigger stage next time he comes through the area. He has his eyes on playing MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, he said.
“One thing I know about Jersey,” Scott said, “is you'll all know how to (blanking) rage until rage is backwards, and until backwards is upside down!”
Travis Scott Prudential Center setlist
Hyaena
Thank God
Modern Jam
Aye
SDP Interlude
3500
A-Team
Nightcrawler
Sirens
Upper Echelon
Praise God
God’s Country
My Eyes
Butterfly Effect
Highest in the Room
Mamacita
Circus Maximus
Delresto (Echoes)
Maria I'm Drunk
Can’t Say
Mafia
I Know
90210
Meltdown
Topia Twins
Fe!n (10 times)
Sicko Mode
Goosebumps
Stargazing
Telekinesis
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Travis Scott delivers hip-hop spectacular at PruCenter in Newark
