Trent Ryden
Staff Writer 

On Nov. 17th, 2018 in Houston, Texas, Travis Scott held the very first Astroworld Music Festival. People traveled from across the United States to attend the massive event that featured performances from music’s biggest artists such as Young Thug, Post Malone, Rae Sremmurd and the “Mo Bamba” hit-maker Sheck Wes. Funny enough, Scott did not announce the festival’s setlist until the day before the Astroworld festival was supposed to start.

The Astroworld Festival is a bit of a homecoming block party for Scott. Scott, who was born and raised in Houston, had always mentioned having such an event. It wasn’t until August of this year that Scott finalized these plans, by dropping a Nov.17th event date via social media.

It is there in Houston, where Scott who began making music at the age of 13, started his ascension as a multi-faceted singer, rapper and producer. All throughout his music Scott drops note of his hometown, from references to the “281” (Houston’s area code) to the city’s popular nickname “H-Town.” For Scott to come this far and organize an event of this magnitude is a testament to both his love for his city, and the blossoming of his astonishingly successful music career.

The Astroworld Music Festival was, just like the album “Astroworld,” inspired by the famous Houston theme park, Astroworld, which ceased operations back in 2006. Scott has often spoken with enthusiasm about his admiration for Astroworld, a venue he frequented as a youth. The closing of Astroworld, as Scott suggests was the beginning of his music career. When asked what he did for fun after the close of Astroworld, Scott replied,  “make music.”

Back in August when Scott took to social media to announce the festival’s arrival, there was already much hype about the festival at the time, considering the fact that upon its release Astroworld debuted at #1 on the Billboard top 100. Since Astroworld was an amusement park, and amusement parks feature roller coaster rides amongst other attractions, Scott mentioned that the festival was going to have roller coaster rides. Much like his longtime mentor Kanye West, Scott has been known to go above and beyond for his live performances. His 2017 Birds Eye View Tour featured a large mechanical bird that Scott would mount on stage. Scott’s Astroworld tour performances even feature an actual roller coaster on stage.

Just like the music on Astroworld, the Astroworld festival is a project that, at the end of the day, aims to capture and recreate the essence of what the original Astroworld amusement park was supposed to be: a place to let loose, be wild, have fun and for one to enjoy themselves.  

When asked to” describe their initial impressions of the Astroworld Festival in one sentence or less” one festival-goer from North Carolina who asked to remain anonymous responded with a simple three-word reply summing it all up: “this sh*t lit.”

Scott is known for his intense, high energy live performances. The wildly uninhibited nature of his performances is similar to the thrill of riding a roller coaster: fast, abrupt, aggressive, invigorating and thrilling. Once you have stepped onto that ride and fastened the seatbelt or whatever protective measures roller coasters have, you are fully committing to whatever is about to happen.

As a self-proclaimed “rager”, as Scott calls it,  Scott performs with the intent of “having fun and expressing good feelings” as he said back in 2015 Scott said in an interview with GQ titled “how to rage with Travis Scott”.

This is the appeal of the Astroworld festival: the thrill, the excitement, the energy, all of it. Within the Astroworld festival lies the opportunity come to a place that is one of a kind, to say the least, and full out rage with Scott, his musical collaborators and perhaps most importantly, the fans who make it all possible.