Las Vegas is getting a new theme park—for one night only. On February 6, rapper Travis Scott will turn T-Mobile Arena into a raging carnival for his Astroworld: Wish You Were Here tour. The tour comes in support of his celebrated third studio album, Astroworld, named after a shuttered Six Flags amusement park in Scott’s hometown of Houston. From the look of it, the stage production is a righteous homage.
Fan uploads show Scott essentially living out every 12-year-old boy’s dream. Already known for his unhinged concerts, the 26-year-old performs while strapped inside a 360-degree vertical loop, then hops into a roller coaster that cruises back and forth above fans. During each show, he pulls a lucky fan from the crowd to ride along with him. Sometimes his baby mama Kylie Jenner joins him. There’s also a giant inflatable astronaut, mind-melting projections and blazing pyrotechnics for extra madness. Just imagining the whiplash-inducing “Sicko Mode” in that setting will make your head spin.
The outrageous production sets the concert bar pretty high. Though, if you ask one aging rock/onetime porn star, it’s been done before. In one of the most “that’s enough internet for today” online squabbles, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee poked his head out of the shadows of irrelevance to accuse Scott of copying his stage design from the band’s 2014-2015 tour. Lee played drums in a similar revolving roller coaster loop. He warned Scott in November to “lawyer up” in a tweet and to “get an original idea bro” via Instagram, despite Blink-182’s Travis Barker pulling a similar stunt in the 2000s.
As it turns out, there’s a reason Scott and Lee’s extreme stage rigs look alike. Both were built by North Las Vegas-based Show Group Production Services, whose client list includes everyone from Beyoncé and Kanye West to Aerosmith and Kenny Chesney. Scott was granted rights to use the equipment for the Astroworld tour, Billboard reports.
The over-the-top design is fitting for Scott. Astroworld lives in a grandiose, psychedelic trap frenzy. Some songs are spacey and hypnotic, others sound like a rocket blast. His most successful album to date, Astroworld has placed Scott at the forefront of a new hip-hop era—artists and fans fueled by distorted melodies and steamrolling bass, who wear metal band T-shirts, mosh like they’re at a hardcore show and stage dive like they’ve got Wolverine’s bones. It’s absolute mayhem.
And if you want to experience it, go to Scott’s show and wait for his riot call: “It’s lit!”
TRAVIS SCOTT February 6, 8 p.m., $39-$200. T-Mobile Arena, 702-692-1600.
