G-Eazy has been on the road nonstop this year. After wrapping up his Beautiful & The Damned Tour with Trippie Redd, Anthony Russo, and Phora, the Oakland native is now embarking his Endless Summer Tour featuring Lil Uzi Vert, Ty Dolla $ign, YBN Nahmir, Murda Beatz, and P-Lo. The “No Limit” rapper made a stop at Chicago’s Huntington Bank Pavilion for an incredibly wild Tuesday (Aug. 15) evening. The tone and energy were set from the moment the YBN crew could be heard and seen near the box office on a small fleet of dirt bikes, riding around the outdoor venue.
Aside from the packed-out venue full of ungodly priced drinks (water included!), warm weather, and noticeably skewed racial dynamics between the workers and the concert attendees (another story for another time), an army of rabid, yet pleasant fans who were ready to see young Gerald rock the house once again. The city of Chicago offered a fitting backdrop to celebrate his ongoing string of “Ws” as, by his account, he’s been performing across the city since his early days. In fact, some of his fans who attended the show watched him gradually work his way from performing at minor in-store appearances “with only 10 people,” and small, intimate venues in Northside Chi, to large-scale festivals like Lollapalooza and bigger settings such as the Aragon Ballroom.
“I don’t know if any of you all know how much I’m in love with your city and respect I have for it, but the first show I ever played at was at Leaders for an in-store performance of, like 10 people or some shit,” he reflected before the red-hot crowd. “Then I remember coming back and playing at Schubas, then later on playing at Aragon Ballroom a bunch of times, Lollapalooza twice. You realize this is one of the greatest cities on the planet!”
And while he kept fans on their toes the whole night with stunning visual effects and a passionate stage presence, it took a minute for most of the young crowd to bring that same energy throughout, despite performances ranging from solid to amazing.
First up on the opener’s circuit was the HBK Gang affiliate P-Lo who was fully charged up from the get-go. The San Francisco native hopped out to “No Idea” from his latest release, Prime and went on give solid and hype performances of songs like “Feel Good” and “Put Me on Something”. While most of the fans near the front and upper middle of the pit were rocking heavily to his jams, others from the lower middle section in the back weren’t quite as familiar as most were still mingling and getting snacks (because, of course, Chicagoans make entertainers work for their attention).
Eventually, attendees caught on to the vibe, thanks to P-Lo’s highly-energetic work rate and ongoing interactions with his the fans in the crowd. He even stopped to have a hearty swig of a fan’s gigantic cup of a Bud Light Straw-Ber-Rita.
From there, it led to P-Lo’s fun and spirited performance of “Same Squad” where he had fans grab their best friend and move from side to side while doing the same with his DJ. His set was lit and this certainly was not the last anyone would see of him during the show.
After a brief intermission, Birmingham, Ala.’s rising sensation YBN Nahmir came out the gate swinging with his viral banger, “Rubbin’ Off The Paint” followed by his booming “Bail Out” during his set. From there, he continued to have the crowd rocking by paying homage to the incarcerated Tay-K with “The Race (remix)”, complete with colorful, glittery digital graphics which changed with every song.
When YBN Almighty Jay arrived, draped in his mini-bike gear (which from afar looked more like a bulletproof vest one didn’t catch them on their bikes earlier) he went on to showcase his catalog of bops like “Chopsticks”, the glossy “2 Tone Drip”, and high-octane rapid-fire duet with YBN Nahmir “No Hook”. And with the lingering controversy with the infamous Chicago Police Department and their recent instances of police brutality, the entire YBN gang took a moment to have the crowd put their middle fingers in the air and having them yell, “when I say f**k, y’all say 12!” leading into the somewhat related, “Changes.” After announcing they’ve hit 110 million views on YouTube, P-Lo got back on stage to party with the gang once again, before they abruptly closed their set.
The baby-faced crew had a solid stage presence and a performance quality that was better than what some purists would like to believe, however, after YBN Nahmir and YBN Almighty Jay each performed their biggest hits, the overall energy began to hit an inconsistent wave of dying down, to picking back up and so on, likely because of the lack of familiarity rather than anything related to their noticeable effort.
The gold and platinum plaque studded producer Murda Beatz was initially a head-scratcher after a glance at the lineup due to A. being a very strong producer/beatmaker who, as a personality, lacks a similar captivating star power, presence, and charisma as DJ Khaled who has a similar style of performance. And B. one would be a poor fool to believe would bring out his A-List clientele like Drake, 2 Chainz, Nicki Minaj, and especially 6ix9ine for obvious reasons. However, the Canadian hitmaker, whose wrist was dripping with the shiniest diamonds, showed and proved and by delivering a fun set by having the crowd rock out to a string of hits like 6IXN9NE’s “FeFe,” “M&Ms” with Blac Youngsta and Offset, and even A$AP Ferg’s “Work.” He and his fellow hype men kept the crowd moving with his booming production while shooting “Murda Gang” branded water guns into the fired-up crowd.
Murda also took a moment to unveil his newest member of his Murda Gang crew, Chicago artist Lil Geno, who performed his tracks “Finessin” and “Hit Me a Lick.” Unfortunately, the predominantly white crowd wasn’t quite hip to him and didn’t catch on despite his commendable performance. However, a memorable moment occurred when he was christened as an official member of the squad when they stopped to deliver the announcement and fit him with a dripping gold medallion a la Kanye West/Roc-A-Fella style.
Things continued to remain a bit flat when he transitioned to two of his songs, a Smokepurrp collab from the Bless Yo Trap tape and a Trippie Redd melody which made his set a bit dull, but it turned around immediately when he went into an even more explosive string of his biggest hits like Migos’ “Walk It Talk It” and “Motorsport” where he had the ladies sing every word of Cardi B’s scene-stealing verse, and of course the crowd-pleasing anthems from Drake “Nice For What” and “God’s Plan.” Despite a few misses, Murda Beatz gave a solid set that kept the party going.
After entering to the sounds of “Paranoia,” Ty Dolla $ign went on to deliver a sultry, rock star performance that had the fans going insane by performing jams like “Pineapple” and “Missionary.” But the Taylor Gang heavyweight managed to have some fun in between alongside TeeCee 400. During his set, he even took a moment to show love to the city and pay homage to the late Drill music icon, Fredo Santana.
The longtime YG and DJ Mustard collaborator practically blew the roof off when he gave a shirtless, rock star performance of Post Malone’s “Psycho” (which he wrote), where he delivered such a high-quality performance making fans wish he kept it for himself. Afterward, Ty closed out with the most interactive performance of the night, singing “Or Nah”. But what made this stand out the hardest was when he got off stage and walked throughout most of the pavilion (with security in tow) and continued singing within the crowd while being chased by a pack of young women. It was the finishing touch to make his set a glorious one.
Shortly after Ty Dolla $ign’s set, a newly blond-haired G-Eazy unveiled himself from the shadows and behind a double door with blinding light behind him. With the Holy Cross appearing across the multiple monitors among other brightly lit graphics, he wasted no time performing the compelling and electrifying “Pray for Me,” followed by songs like “The Plan,” “Sober,” and “Eazy,” each with passionate conviction. One can’t help but be glued to the stage.
What’s different about this his Endless Summer Tour set up compared to his The Beautiful and Damned Tour is how the stunning visual effects complimented the show. Each set had an over-the-top and immersive effect matched with the right lighting that specifically complimented each song. G-Eazy brought out the engulfing fire and brimstone during his dark alluring performance of “The Beautiful and Damned,” the inner workings of the internet with web pages, emojis of himself, and random cameos of the Lil B’s Twitter avatar during “That’s A Lot,” and even took us to the basketball court with the Yo Gotti and YBN Nahmir assisted “1942.” And what made it spectacular was how Gerald didn’t lean on the effects as he delivered his passionate set. He amplified the emotional impact and value of every song, creating many deeply immersive moments (even the “thunderstorm” introduction before one of his songs felt eerily realistic.)
G-Eazy wasn’t selfish with the spotlight as he brought out YBN Nahmir to perform his verse from “1942,” Murda Beatz who joined him on top of an old school Ford Mustang on “Goddamn” during the second act of the show, and once again, P-Lo to perform their each of their popping duets, “Feel Good”, “Light This Bi**h Up”, and “Power” sans Nef The Pharaoh. And like Eazy himself, there were no slouches on stage; they helped make his set an enjoyable one.
But just when (some) fans thought it was a wrap, he came right back to give fans a powerhouse performance of his biggest hits like the Halsey-assisted, “Him and I.” While performing “No Limit,” Gerald brought out hip-hop lawyer Steven Reisman aka $2 Dollar Steve to the help shower fans in the pit with cash as the ladies sang Cardi B’s verse.
While Lil Uzi Vert was sorely missed from the show, the Endless Summer Tour was an enjoyable evening of electrifying performers matched with dazzling effects and good vibes. Casual music fans and those who aren’t as familiar with G-Eazy’s music appeared to enjoy themselves as well.
If you’ve experienced the Beautiful & Damned Tour, you may not want to miss the Endless Summer Tour.
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