In this blog post I will be reviewing Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD Wish You Were Here Tour. This tour had 2 legs. The first leg started on November 8th, 2018 and ended on December 19th 2018. Stretching 26 dates from Toronto to LA with everywhere in between. The second leg started on January 25th, 2019 and went to March 24th stretching 21 dates. Now, Travis Scott is one of my favorite artist and inspiration, so naturally I needed to see him on this tour. Previously I had seen him 2 times before ASTROWORLD. One on the Birds Eye view Tour in Cleveland, OH in 2017 and when Drake brought him out as a surprise guest for his Aubrey & The Three Amigos Tour in Toronto in 2018. The differences with this tour and his previous tours is that this was an arena tour. Meaning that he will be in large arenas like Madison Square Garden. Previously he performed at smaller venues. The reason for this is that with Travis’ third album, ASTROWORLD, he gained a lot of mainstream attention, radio play and popularity. Being a fan of his work since 2013, seeing him become a superstar was insane to me. From small venues to selling out arenas.
Now it’s time to get into the details of the show. The closest show to Buffalo that I was able to attend (between school and lacrosse) was on November 21st 2018 in Toronto, CA. we arrive at the door at around 6 p.m. and eventually get in at 7 p.m.
The way the stage was set up was in two different parts. Stage A and stage B. Based off the shows before, Travis starts on stage B then moves to stage A. So, myself and 2 of my friends decideed to get as close as possible to stage A.
Leg 1 of the tour was accompanied by two opening acts: Sheck Wes (signed to Travis’ Cactus Jack label and known for his song Mo Bamba) and Gunna (know for his song Drip To Hard with Lil Baby). Sheck Wes started at 7:30 p.m. and preformed 7 songs. I was impressed with the energy he brought, being a new artist. The arena wasn’t full yet, but everyone there was vibing with Sheck Wes. Then around 8 p.m., Gunna came on. Performing 11 songs. Personally, I’m not the biggest Gunna fan, but he had a refreshing act. His set went to around 8:30 p.m. The part of the show that took the longest, was the wait for Travis after Gunna. The 30 minutes felt like a long time.
At 9 p.m. we hear “In the middle of Houston Texas is a world called Astroworld” Playing was a remake of one of the original 1980 commercials for 6 Flags Astroworld. It’s a real thing. An theme park in Texas. Houston is where Travis was born and raised and where a lot of the inspiration for his music comes from. Hence the name of the album and tour, ASTROWORLD.
After the commercial intro, Travis opens saying “I’m behind you…” as everyone is looking at stage A and he’s on stage B, then “Toronto make some m***********g noise!” This gets everyone super hyped up as STARGAZING drops. This song in full is a great opener. The whole arena knows the lyrics and with the beat switch the moshpits open and it really goes down.
Throughout the show he covers the majority of ASTROWORLD as well as older songs from all previous mixtapes, features and albums. Some highlights from the Toronto show include: Mamacita from Days Before Rodeo, way back from Birds Tn The Trap Sing McKnight, NO BYSTANDERS from ASTROWORLD, Upper Echelon from Owl Pharaoh, 90210 from Rodeo, SKELETONS from ASTROWORLD, and of course his three biggest hits: Antidote, goosebumps and SICKO MODE.
Based off pervious times I’ve seen him, this setlist really showcased his entire discography. 14 songs from ASTROWORLD, 5 songs from Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, 4 from Rodeo, 4 from Days Before Rodeo, 3 from Owl Pharaoh and 2 features. It was a roller coaster of songs to rage to as well as some slower songs. During the show, Travis brought out three special guests. The first being NAV to perform their song Beibs In The Trap. Next was Gunna (who opened) for YOSEMITE. Lastly, was Don Toliver for CAN’T SAY. Unfortunately, Drake was not among the surprises.
The stage set up with everything from a giant circular screen, drop down screens with images projected, a circular roller coaster in stage B and a linear roller coaster with hills right above the general admissions pit. This really brought the theme park vibe to life. Travis even allowed fans to get up and ride the coasters during the show.
Over all the Toronto show of the ASTROWORLD Wish You Were Here Tour was an insane performance by all the artists there. Travis felt confident and energetic with each song he did. The background sound effects and shoutouts from Chase B also added a lot of elements to the shows production. This was a fantastic way to end Thanksgiving break. Actually, we were leaving Toronto Thanksgiving Day. Different holidays in Canada so we turned this year’s turkey day into a concert. By far one of the coolest experiences and shows ever.
Fast forward to December 2018. Leg 1 was completed. Travis then announced leg 2 starting at the end of the follow month. Looking at the dates, it’s in reverse order of the last leg, couple new dates, I see a Toronto date, okay okay, looking into it I see Buffalo, NY. February 28th 2019 Travis will be in my hometown. I was shook when he announced a second leg of his tour and he’s coming to Buffalo. Details for this leg include Sheck Wes as the solo opening act. Unfortunately, that was a Thursday and between school and a lacrosse game the next day and practices there would be no way I’d be able to make it to that show. All other shows that are close by don’t like up with any weekend or break I have either.
So, it gets to the concert date. After lacrosse practice, I look at my phone to see if anything with the show happened yet. First thing I see is shows postponed. He tweeted to address the show saying that he was “under the weather” and Can’t pull up without the full rage” The new date was set for March 10th. Now that day was a Sunday. The Sunday my team and I get back from Florida where we played lacrosse for the previous week. Long story short, myself and two friends were able to secure tickets and once we got back to Rochester from Florida, we hit the road to Buffalo.
This show was 90% the same show as Toronto. Differences included only one opening act, a slightly different setlist and some production changes. Arriving at the show we decided to stick by stage B for this show just to get a different perspective. Sheck Wes opened and brought a lot of rage. Travis came on around 9:15 and I don’t know if it was Buffalo or where I was by the stage, but I felt that the moshpits were harder then Toronto’s. Don’t get me wrong Toronto’s moshpits and rage was insane, but Buffalo just felt slightly bigger in the begging of the show. Travis brought the energy but sounded slightly weaker then Toronto. This was probably due to doing a lot of shows.
So, there you have it. ASTROWORLD Wish You Were Here Tour overview review. This tour was one of the biggest and craziest I’ve ever seen. Even when compared to Kanye West and Drake. Travis Scott really killed the production, set up, setlist and more when creating this tour. Currently he is still on road doing festivals for this summer from America to Europe. In the meantime, ASTROWORLD is coming up on its one year anniversary this August and it’s still a album that I play every day. Between 55 sold out dates, a super bowl performance, SNL, Grammy nomination and a performance, along with his relationship with Kylie Jenner and their child, and collaborations from the likes of Nike to Recess’s cereal, Travis Scott really has set himself up for an incredible 2018, 2019 and will have an incredible 2020.
By Jack Laino
