When Travis Scott silently revealed his one-night-only DAYS BEFORE RODEO 10-year anniversary show in Atlanta just hours before doors opened – taking to his Tumblr account to make the announcement, just like he did for his 2014 ATL shows – the first round of pre-sale tickets sold out almost instantly. With an attendance cap of 1,500 guests, general on-sale went even quicker, with the surprise Spotify x Cactus Jack event slated to go down at The Masquerade in another nod to his 2014 run of shows.
Doors were supposed to open at 9 p.m., but it wouldn't be a proper Travis Scott event without a bit of a delay. Ragers began filing (running) into the venue at around 9:45, quickly filling the intimate venue's floor area. As for the on-site outfits, a wide range of the rapper's merchandise was on display, with most attendees electing to rep La Flame's ASTROWORLD album, and many quickly layered on the new DAYS BEFORE RODEO merch, which consisted of hoodies and graphic tees; one t-shirt flipped the D.A.R.E. program's logo in tribute of the project's infamous "Drugs You Should Try It," while the other read "Not Our First Rodeo" on the back.
Greeted by a crowd-wide "ATL H*E!" chant, Chase B hit the stage around 10:30 for a brief, banger-filled set including Don Toliver's "BANDIT," Playboi Carti's "Sky" and Carti and Lil Uzi Vert's "Shoota." Scott's longtime collaborator catalyzed the charged energy on the floor and the balcony, setting the stage for Scott's set, which kicked off at around 11:30. La Flame instantly lit up the stage upon his entrance, the floor crowd starting to push closer to the stage as "Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer" began.
Scott made sure the ragers had room to rage, though, telling security twice – during "Quintana Pt. 2" and "Don't Play" – to chill out. "Quintana Pt. 2"'s performance signaled its first since 2015, so Scott wanted to get it right, starting it from the top about halfway through. He also performed "Basement Freestyle" for the first time since 2017, "Backyard" for the first time since 2015, and gave "Grey" its live debut.
Young Thug's energy was also felt throughout the night. A key contributor to the project, Scott paid tribute to Thugger at many points throughout his set, with Chase B even donning a "Free Thugger" hoodie – part of the show's merch capsule – for his set as well. After the concert, Cactus Jack released a collaborative hoodie with Thug's Sp5der Worldwide. "Nah, this is the hardest verse," Scott said during Young Thug's "Skyfall" verse, hopping in to deliver bits and pieces of it as the crowd sang it back. After "Drugs You Should Try It" got the crowd extra hot, Quavo popped out for "Sloppy Toppy" – marking the first time the duo performed the track live together.
After "Mamacita," DAYS BEFORE RODEO dropped on DSPs, igniting the moshpits and mania, and gearing up for Scott to bring out the from-the-vault tracks. "Mo City Flexologist" and "Yeah Yeah" were the first "new" tracks to be officially released, the latter of which is another Thug feature and has proved a long-awaited leak. The third and final new track to drop was "Too Many Chances," which closed out the set.
In addition to the nostalgic cuts, Scott still played the contemporary classics, running back "FE!N" twice and interspersing "Topia Twins" and part of "Nightcrawler." Find the full setlist below.
The Prayer
Quintana Pt. 2
Don’t Play
Basement Freestyle
Skyfall
Drugs You Should Try It
Sloppy Toppy (with Quavo)
Grey
Mamacita
Backyard
Mo City Flexologist
Yeah Yeah
Fe!n (2x)
Type Shit
Nightcrawler (2x)
Topia Twins
Upper Echelon
Uptown
Too Many Chances
Sure, it was evident that DAYS BEFORE RODEO's glory days were far from gone when the rapper announced the mixtape's reissue last week. But if the Atlanta show made one thing more clear than ever: the days before rodeo are never, and will never be, over.
Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast
