The sun was down, and it was freezing cold. Rather than seek shelter or wear a blanket, thousands were warmed by flamethrowers and pyrotechnics after entering the gates of Utopia.
Ever since the release of his 2015 debut album Rodeo, Travis Scott established himself as one of the most popular musicians of the 21st century, landing at number 82 on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list in 2020. Scott even had an entire concert within Fortnite in April of 2020, reaching 12.3 million players in attendance, shattering Fortnite’s player count record at the time.
Having three widely acclaimed solo albums under his belt, Scott took his time in creating his fourth album Utopia, finally releasing it on July 28th, 2023. It was a highly anticipated release, mostly due to the fact that it was released five years after his previous album Astroworld, which was a massive success. While some fans think that the wait was worth it, some say otherwise.
“I don’t know if I would say the wait was worth it,” senior Bella Poletto said. “I think that Utopia definitely still lived up to the hype though.”
Regardless of whether or not the five year gap in albums was necessary, it would be wrong to call “Utopia” anything but successful. In its first week, it landed at number one on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and even broke the record for most rap vinyls sold since 1991.
As expected from the artist, Travis shortly afterwards announced his tour for the album, titled Circus Maximus. This tour was a massive success, with most shows selling out within hours.
I actually bought my tickets the day-of,” Poletto added. “On that morning, my friends were just like, ‘Hey, tickets are cheap right now.’”
The first leg of the tour went from Oct. 11 to Dec. 29, with Teezo Touchdown accompanying Scott as an opener for the tour. Near the tour’s end, a second leg was announced with new locations, with one of them being the Bryce Jordan Center.
The hype reached its peak on Jan. 14, 2024, when the performance was slated to commence. At around 9 pm, fans screamed along as they heard the opening sequence to “Hyaena”, signaling the start of the show.
Lasting around two hours, the crowd was constantly moshing and singing along through the concert, never slowing down, even after Scott played the song “Fe!n” eight times in a row. Whether they were in the pit or in the nosebleeds, people could feel his presence throughout the stadium.
“Absolutely loved the performance,” senior Colin Dardis recalled. “It was honestly better than I was expecting and it was just overall a great time.”
Even after the performance ended, the energy remained high as Scott hosted an after party at Champs Downtown.
It was not Scott’s first time in State College, as he performed at the BJC for his Astroworld tour back in 2019. With a population of around 40,000 people, having an artist as large as Scott performing here could have impacts on its perception as a venue.
Senior David Zhu said, “I think it’ll put the name of the area out there more, and I feel like more and more artists or bigger names will start to come here.”
Whether or not it can be attributed to Scott’s performances, more big-named artists are hosting shows in State College, such as country artist Zach Bryan and rapper Drake. It is not just musical artists visiting either — comedian John Mulaney performed in December of last year at the BJC, and comedian Theo Von plans to perform this February.
Regardless of if people enjoy these acts coming to State College, the positive impact it will have on its reputation cannot be ignored.
“We’ve had Travis Scott, and soon we’ll have Drake,” Poletto said. “I think that the future for concerts here is going to be awesome.”
