Review: Travis Scott shakes the rafters at Wells Fargo Center
In a sold-out Wells Fargo Center, rap star Travis Scott “shook the rafters” on Sunday night, declaring the crowd one of the best he’s faced on his “Utopia — Circus Maximus Tour.”
“Not going to lie, y’all coming for the top-three spot tonight, Philly,” he said.
Backed by pulsating lights and stimulating visuals that flashed across the stadium’s LED screen, the Houston artist’s high-flying antics and crowd-stirring anthems brought fans to their feet as they celebrated the return of “La Flame.”
The tour is Scott’s first since 2021′s Astroworld Festival, where 10 people died in a crowd crush. And it’s been four years since he topped the Made In America festival bill in 2019. But even after the hiatus, Scott hasn’t lost his connection with Philly fans or his flair for high-powered performance.
Before Scott arrived on stage, fans stood on their feet while some watched the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys on their cell phones. But once the fog machined hissed and the arena lights flickered, the “E-A-G-L-E-S” chants from the crowd turned to roars as Scott leaped onto the stage like a WWE wrestler off the top rope.
He glided across the ends of the stage equipped with floating heads or parasails that rose above the 360-degree platform. Scott’s mystifying howls took the crowd on what felt like a musical voyage to outer Earth without a seat belt.
Scott started with the Utopia opener “Hyaena” and shifted to other records from the Grammy-nominated project, including “Thank God” and the Teezo Touchdown-assisted “Modern Jam.”
The rapper-turned-global-star then played favorites from early projects like 2014′s Days Before Rodeo (“Mamacita”) and Rodeo (”90210″) before bringing Philly’s own Lil Uzi Vert to the stage for their Pink Tape collab “Aye.”
While most of Scott’s performance was like a shockwave of visual and musical stimulation, the audio sounded muffled at distinct spots. It was hard to make out lyrics, and the charged momentum dipped whenever Scott picked fans from the crowd to ride the floating parasails.
While it was certainly a moment to remember for the fans, it didn’t add much to the show or aid Scott’s performance — not that he needed it. He, alone, made the show electric.
After Scott wrapped up headbangers like “3500″ and “A-Team,” things got a lot weirder when he played “Circus Maximus,” with three people dressed in ape costumes walking across the stage as Scott roared from its peak.
The second half of the show started slower than the hyper-speed pace of the first. But once Scott got going with “Meltdown” and “Topia Twins,” the concert kicked back into full gear. Scott went full supernova on “Fe!n,” playing the song five times in a row, as fans demanded one encore after another.
Scott continued to tip the arena’s sonic scales with 2018′s “Sicko Mode,” and wrapped up the hour and 45-minute performance with “Telekinesis” as a camera followed him off the stage.
By this time, Philly had slid into his list of best tour stops. “Y’all definitely in that top three spot,” Scott yelled.
Travis Scott Set List, Wells Fargo Center, Dec. 10, 2023
“Hyaena”
“Thank God”
“Modern Jam” (with Teezo Touchdown)
“Aye” (with Lil Uzi Vert)
“sdp interlude”
“3500″
“A-Team”
“Sirens”
“Praise God” (by Kanye West)
“God’s Country”
“My Eyes”
“Butterfly Effect”
“Highest in the Room”
“Mamacita”
“Circus Maximus”
“Delresto (Echoes)”
“Lose”
“Mafia”
“I Know?”
“90210″
“Meltdown”
“Topia Twins”
“No Bystanders”
“Fe!n”
“Sicko Mode”
“Goosebumps”
“Telekinesis”