Rapper A$AP FERG arrives at Marquee Nightclub for a special performance at The Cosmopoiltan in Las Vegas on February 20, 2014. Credit: Courtesy of TNS
A ticket last night for ASAP Ferg and Tory Lanez’s Level Up Tour stop in Columbus at EXPRESS LIVE! ran on Ticketmaster for $30. Once fees were factored in, the final total was around $45.
Thankfully, when The Lantern reviews concerts, usually reporters receive a complimentary ticket.
ASAP Ferg’s performance last night was not worth $45.
Doors opened at 7:30 p.m. for the indoor show. Choosing to host the show indoors was beneficial for creating an intimate, club-like environment. But it also seemed like a waste of a beautiful summer day.
Perhaps all the Pride events downtown (understandably) didn’t want to be assaulted by the DJ bumping Fetty Wap?
I love Fetty Wap, Desiigner, Young Thug and other Top 40 rappers the opening DJ played. I play them in my car on the way to work with the bass so loud the rearview window has a slight shake.
The opening DJ went on at 8:30 p.m. and the place didn’t stop shaking until 10:30 p.m.
Why 10:30 p.m.? Because that’s when, with very little crescendo or fanfare, the lights went up and everything was over.
The only rapper, if you can even call him that, I’d seen perform before was Wiz Khalifa co-headlining with Fall Out Boy last summer. From editing The Lantern concert reviews, I knew rappers are not known for timeliness. I expected Ferg to be on around 11 p.m. I did not expect to have made it to a High Street bar by 11 p.m., the concert already a foggy fever dream.
The ASAP Mob — including the famous rapper-now-model ASAP Rocky and the late great ASAP Yams — is a powerhouse. Instead Ferg last night was more like a fleeting electric spark.
This was especially disappointing given the prophetic, dare I say Kendrick Lamar-esque, tone of Ferg’s latest album, “Always Strive and Prosper.”
My favorite Ferg song is his early single “Doe-Active” — a snarky banger comparing Adam Levine’s acne to cocaine — but his latest album builds off the powerful, melodic “Hood Pope” from his first full length, “Trap Lord.”
“Always Strive and Prosper” includes skits throughout the album to create a narrative and sense of authenticity. In Ferg’s performance, it was like being in my car. I was shaking, assaulted by sound, but not feeling any closer a connection to the rapper now before me.
Ferg also never performed alone. Tory Lanez was always on stage with him, never leaving after his set — over half of which he clearly lip synced. Collaborations are great, but I wanted Ferg’s part. I wanted to hear him speak.
I really wanted to hear him say, “Adam Levine, I got a hundred dollar bill for every bump on your face.”
But I can live without hearing a certain song. What I can’t shake is the feeling of not being satisfied. I still feel like I’m standing in the middle of the venue as waves of people exit, wondering A) is that really it? and B) why are more people not upset by this?
People weren’t upset or confused as the lights went up. They happily went along their way to the Ubers or the High Street bars. The crowd seemed entirely satisfied solely by seeing Ferg saunter around the stage to just a few of his songs.
I guess that’s why he’s the Trap Lord.
