BROCKHAMPTON @ Revolution Live – 1/25/18
America’s new favorite boyband brought their “Love Your Parents” tour to Revolution Live in Ft. Lauderdale this past Thursday. Hours before doors even opened, the area was packed with rabid, mostly teenage fans. Some even came equipped with a full orange bodysuit and blue body paint, donning the signature look of the “boyband”, and the line stretched around the parking lot several times over. I hadn’t seen energy this intense and a fanbase this obsessively dedicated since Odd Future concerts in early 2012 (a group that undoubtedly influenced and laid the groundwork for movements like Brockhampton’s to happen).
When doors finally opened, the place filled up quickly. There was no opening act, and fans were mostly unresponsive to the music played over the loudspeaker beforehand, which ranged from Sunny Day Real Estate to “A Milli” (and was curated by members of Brockhampton themselves). However, occasionally a member of Brockhampton would pop out from a curtain on the side of the stage (mostly non-musical members), and the crowd would collectively lose their mind, chanting the member’s name incessantly.
After a little more than an hour of waiting, the curtains opened to reveal Brockhampton’s stage set up: an assortment of furniture, a couple swivel chairs and a traffic light on either side of the stage. Group member Ameer Vann walked out donning a surgical face mask and headlight, which he promptly removed and threw into the crowd before dressing into the group’s signature orange jumpsuit. Defeaning applause followed as the beat to “BOOGIE” (off the recent Saturation III) dropped and the rest of the band members joined him on stage.
The energy didn’t dip for a second throughout their set as fans screamed along every word to every song, and group members took turns breakdancing to their beats in between songs. The group wrapped up their main set with a sing-a-long to the smooth “BLEACH” off their most recent project, before clearing the stage to give the group’s singer, Bearface, an intimate 2-song solo segment of his own. After Bearface finished up, the crowd wasn’t quite ready to leave, and chants for an encore of course ensued. It wasn’t long before the entire group returned to stage for an encore that included “HOTTIE”, “HEAT” and multiple performances of “STAR”. Before the final performance of the single, the group encouraged the crowd to form two large circles, each with a person in the middle that represented their side. Each side was to chant that person’s name until the beat dropped on “STAR”, at which point a wildly chaotic mosh pit broke out – a very fitting ending to their performance.
Although I felt a little old for the crowd at times, seeing Brockhampton in their prime is definitely a worthwhile experience. The “boyband” puts on a stellar, passionate performance, and the energy they conjure up is nearly unmatched in modern hip-hop shows.