25-year-old, papz-dodging Travis Scott offers much more than your standard rap concert would. Following his two sold-out London shows, Travis brought the Birds Eye View Tour to Birmingham’s fully packed out o2 Academy to much anticipation.
After a short 10 minute DJ set of certified bangers, with a comparable attempt at recreating that viral Giggs ‘KMT’ verse video of a live audience, we were met with a huge red-eyed eagle perched on the stage, surrounded by smoke, mirrors and cages.
21.40 hit, and out emerged Travis Scott to a heated, restless yet eager crowd, beginning with “the ends”, ironically, before going “way back”, which was met with screams declaring that Travis Scott and his fans were in fact, “in the houuuussseee”, both cuts from his latest offering, ‘Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight’.
Whilst the set only lasted little over one hour, there was no doubting the energy and excitement the show brought, emerging through his clash of melody and ferocity, delivered through a post-‘808s & Heartbreak’ Kanye-esque auto-tune vibe, as well as his typical antics from having a few fans stage-dive during the performance of one of the latest tracks, ‘Butterfly Effect’, to himself jumping from the balcony into a swarm of reaching arms. The word – jungle – just wouldn’t cut it.
It wasn’t until a rendition of the impassioned, eye-shutting; chin-lifting ‘Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1’ was preceded by the reckless 2013 ‘Upper Echelons’ ft T.I and 2 Chainz however, that you could truly appreciate the boundaries that Travis Scott has pushed between an almost alt-rock emo-esque impulse and Hip Hop as a whole, a common, questionable, and much debated topic amongst the new era of the uncategorizeable artist. It’s this unapologetic approach, executed with a nonchalant attitude, which has allowed the Houston-born rapper to truly thrust himself onto the scene in such a big way.
After offering his own dance moves to rival that of Drizzy’s infamous ‘Hotline Bling’ antics during his verse of More Life’s ‘Portland’, Travis Scott manouvered his way into a procession of consecutive smash hits, from ‘Pick Up The Phone’, to ‘Antidote’, before finally giving the venue ‘Goosebumps’. Needless to say, everybody lost their sh*t.
As part of a new breed, Travis Scott was able to harmonize a mosh-worthy aggression with a beautiful quake vulnerability to his performance. It’s not solely for the Hip Hop head, but neither is it solely for the turnt up trapper. If this was anything to go by, then the rest of the Bird’s Eye View tour will be something special.
Every moment of the set fused the uncharted rage of a heavy metal show with melodious vocals and passion of a hip hop star, leaving the crowd stunned, spirited and sweaty.
