Chance the Rapper Concert Review – 8/26/23

Review By Nino DeNino

Featured image by Smo Ostrowski

One of my greatest and favorite memories growing up is waking up early on chill summer mornings and getting ready for band camp. I remember starting my day and grabbing my iPod to play what is now my favorite album ever.

Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap is an album that I hold close to my heart, and will for the rest of my life. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to attend Chance’s Acid Rap 10 year Anniversary Tour right over the bridge in Brooklyn on Saturday, August 26th. I remember walking into Barclays Center, and getting chills, feeling the rush of adrenaline through my veins. My dream was finally coming true: I get to watch my childhood hero perform right in front of me!

The night started with the opening act Vic Mensa, who is well known as one of Chance’s best friends. Mensa took the crowd by storm and sang some of his most popular songs.

Throughout the night, Chance brought the energy– starting off the night with arguably one of the best hip hop songs of 2016, “No Problem.” With the pyrotechnics exploding in the air, the room was filled with the sense that everyone in the arena thought this day would never come. Chance carried throughout the night with some of his best hits from Acid Rap, Coloring Book, and so much more!

Early in the concert, Chance performed “Angels,” a song with Nico Segal (formerly known as Donnie Trumpet), who is one of Chance’s best friends. Segal is famously known for his incredible talent of playing the trumpet like no other. This was showcased most during “Angels,” where Segal was given his own trumpet solo and blew away the whole arena. I’ve been to many live performances, and Segal has pushed my expectations to another level.

On the note of talent, Chance’s background singers left the crowd shocked as they showed off their incredible range all night long. At the end of “Good A** Intro” the singers proved their greatness by taking the song up the octave and showing off their skills.

The set went on all night and Chance performed over twenty five of his best songs. He even brought out a couple other artists, one being Saba who is well known for his collaborations with Chance and other musicians such as J. Cole and other Dreamville artists. The lighting, sound, and pyrotechnics were also phenomenal, as was the sound. The lighting team did a fantastic job with programming the show as throughout the night there was never a dull moment when it came to the lighting, as there was always something visually awesome happening! Although I’m not very familiar with pyrotechnics myself, I absolutely loved what I saw during the concert. The fireworks were going off all night- and at all the right times.

My overall experience of the show was nothing short of amazing. I can confidently say that there was never a boring moment and this is an unforgettable experience. Chance is working on another album titled Star Line Gallery, and he claims it will carry that “dank” sound that all of his fans love and miss. Hopefully he will deliver and I’ll be writing an article about the Star Line concert next year if he goes on tour!

Featured Image by Smo Ostrowski