A$AP Ferg supplies post-election catharsis at Regency

“Open up that space in the center there man,” the Trap Lord demanded. Everybody pushed and shoved, doing what he said. And then the song dropped, elbows flew, and the moshing began.

November 9th, at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, I was lucky enough to see the Turnt and Burnt Tour featuring A$AP Ferg, Playboi Carti, and Rob $tone.

Upon arriving, one had the choice to go up to the balcony and stay sweat free and safe, or join the masses and have a chance to let out the anger elicited from the election results the night before. I chose the latter.

Before Rob $tone or Carti came out, a couple of small DJ’s and rappers tried getting the crowd involved and excited. It was successful at times, but for the most part, people seemed to be saving their energy for the headliners. And they did not disappoint. For Rob $tone, it seemed to be a coming out party in many ways. He played his popular songs like “Check” and “Suspects,” and the crowd seemed to be feeling him for most of his set — dancing throughout and even singing along at times. But things turned up to another level when Cash Carti came out in his bullet-proof vest. I was surprised to see how many people knew all the words to all the songs he played, and how hype they were to see him — it was a testament to just how much Carti’s career is taking off. He played hits like “Fetti” and “Broke Boi,” and the response to his set can be best described as constant moshing.

But the Trap Lord, Ferg, the man we all came to see, really changed the pace. He opened up with some slower songs, choosing to sit down for the particularly emotional ones, like “Grandma.” He played his new single with Chris Brown, “I Love You,” and some tracks off of the new A$AP Mob project, Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends. The beginning and middle of his set were  filled with more poppy, mainstream oriented songs. And I get it. Ferg wanted to show his fans his growth and diversity as an artist, I even found some of the songs to be quite good. But at the end of the day, that isn’t the Ferg we came to see and he knew it. So he finished his set with a bang, a constant mosh, playing his most popular songs like “Work,” “Shabba,” and “New Level.” And that was all we needed. My fellow audience members and I came out of the show drenched in sweat and happy — all of our post election anger was released, at least for the night.

Article by Nathaniel Wartzman