When rapper Future emerged from the massive staircase of his set to greet the sold-out crowd of the Hot 104.1 FM Super Jam 2017/“Nobody’s Safe” Tour hybrid show last night at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, it was nearly three years to the day since he brought his last tour St. Louis.
What a difference three years can make.
Memorial Day Weekend of 2014, Future’s “Honest” tour came to The Ambassador to promote his second album of the same name. The venue was all but empty as a mostly unbothered crowd chatted amongst themselves so loudly that it impeded on his performance. In all fairness to them, Future didn’t offer much on stage to keep their attention aside from the blinding bright lights of his elementary set.
Back then he had a handful of catchy club hits, but was mostly unheard of outside of urban audiences. After seeing him at The Ambassador, the expectation was that he would fall off into the abyss of rappers with trendy hits but names that nobody remembers. He managed to defy the odds in the most unbelievable way beginning with 2015’s “DS2.” The album became the springboard for Future’s ascent from trap music guilty pleasure to mainstream music phenomenon.
St. Louis fans got a taste of his impending metamorphosis when he gave an abbreviated performance to promote “DS2” during his visit as the celebrity guest for the “Liquid Assets” 7th Anniversary Celebration at the now defunct Harry’s in 2015. But even then few would have predicted what was to come.
Every one of his next four projects – including the “What a Time to Be Alive” mixtape with music superstar Drake – entered the Billboard 200 at number one. And with the release of “Future” and “HNDRXX,” Future became the first artist in music history to release two albums in consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.
Not only did he put in work in the studio, but he reinvented himself as a surprisingly solid stage act as well. Anybody at last night’s show will co-sign that Future gave them a show to remember.
Future, who spent time honing his craft in St. Louis during his early days, took to Twitter to call the show “a homecoming.” But for those following his career since he made the St. Louis hip-hop scene his stomping grounds before capturing the national hip-hop scene’s attention with “Tony Montana,” Thursday’s show was evidence of a well-calculated transformation into a bonafide rap star.
There was a completely different energy than his previous performances. Instead of standing around rapping to backing tracks with a stage full of entourage, Future took the stage with the intent to engage and entertain. It didn’t feel corny or contrived, but he was clearly mindful of the expectations of artists who fill arenas – and he managed to meet them.
Lights, pyrotechnics and video screens filled the space behind him as Future performed with a trio of background dancers. His hour-plus set was mostly medley in style, but he managed to curate the set list and song length to give the crowd just enough of their favorite hits to feel satisfied when he moved on to the next track. He managed to cover about two dozen hits and features, including “Karate Chop,” “Wicked,” “[expletive] Up Some Commas,” “My Savages,” “I’m So Groovy,” “Jumpman,” before closing the set with his most recent hit “Mask Off.”
Opening acts A$AP Ferg, Torey Lanez and Migos gave solid stage offerings in their own right. The odds were stacked against Ferg because at the start of his set, hardly any of the 17,000 plus who filled the outdoor arena had arrived. But he made the most of the experience in a major way by jumping from the stage and performing the bulk of his brief set from the crowd.
Canadian rapper Torey Lanez, relied on the music of fellow Toronto native Drake to pump the crowd up – but struck a chord with the audience with his breakthrough hit “Say It.”
Rap trio Migos were the last to grace the stage before headliner Future. While the three could stand a bit more cohesion performing as a group, they were effective overall and connected with fans through their hits “Hanna Montana,” “Slippery,” “Kelly Price,” and others. Propelled by their crossover hit “Bad and Boujee,” their latest album “Culture” landed at the top of Billboard and caused the crowd to instantly erupt. They chose to close the show with “Handsome and Wealthy.” The mainstream smash “Bad and Boujee” seemed like the obvious choice for a closer, but “Handsome and Wealthy” worked well and gave the group the chance to bond with their “day one” fans.
