Things got chaotic at the second annual Astroworld Festival before the performances even started.
Throngs of people showed up at Travis Scott’s music-and-fun free-for-all, held once again at NRG Park, not too far where the mighty Six Flags AstroWorld once stood. By now, you’ve probably heard that, before the festivities happened, a large group of fans jumped the gate and started a stampede, leaving at least three people hospitalized due to injuries.
These rowdy festivalgoers must’ve been kids who didn’t have tickets and made to decision to attend this by any means necessary. (There have already been tweets showing kids hopping the fence, trying to duck security.)
Despite the anarchic attendees, Astroworld was just as properly coordinated as last year, with its collection of amusement-park rides sprinkled all around the area and its two stages (Thrills and Chills, respectively) providing one performance after another.
Sheck Wes (who was at last year’s fest) did a good set, while DaBaby spent most of his stage time deciding which part of the audience he was going to jump into and Houston rising star Megan Thee Stallion basically twerked to her own songs.
We watched Playboy Carti and Migos aggressively demand their crowds to go wild during their sets. By far, the most amusingly insane part of the festival was the set by ’90s shock rocker Marilyn Manson. As mostly white and Hispanic attendees flocked to his performance, even he copped to being an odd inclusion at this fest.
“Betcha didn’t see this coming, didja?” Manson said to the audience. “That’s because Travis Scott is a genius.” But that didn’t stop him from doing such hits as “The Beautiful People” and his rendition of Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams.”
After that, Pharrell basically did a greatest hits mix of songs he both performed and/or produced and Rosalia did a set that Scott’s baby momma Kylie Jenner certainly enjoyed.
At 10 pm, Dave Chappelle hit the stage to introduce Scott, mentioning that Scott’s knee was still messed up from his performance at the Rolling Loud Music Festival a month ago. Nevertheless, Scott showed up and turned out. When he wasn’t limping around onstage, he got in a crane and did his set hovering over the audience.
As for special guests, he brought out Young Thug, Gunna and, most surprisingly, Kanye West. All that brouhaha about West and Scott having a feud must’ve been squashed, as West bro-hugged Scott and did “Follow God” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”
Scott eventually closed things out the same way he did last year: performing his hit “Sicko Mode” as fireworks went off overhead.
Apart from spending two hours getting out of the area just to get somewhere where Lyft fares weren’t expensive, it was another decent Astroworld Fest for the books.
Pharrell made everyone happy.
