A near sold-out venue of Mortgage Matchup Center, formerly Footprint Center, gathered for Playboi Carti in downtown Phoenix last weekend. In a night filled with explosions of fire, smoke, and light shows.
The “Antagonist 2.0” tour did not disappoint.
Carti has been described as one of the “four horsemen” of a forecasted rap apocalypse, among them: Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage and Lil Yachty. And while all four were “enemies of rap formalism pushing lucidity to the brink,” Carti was the lone hold-out, existing “on the periphery of rap,” as one review describes him, and “begrudgingly” as he burrowed further and further into a self-serving unorthodoxy.
Supporting artists included Apollo Red, Homixide Gang, Destroy Lonely, and Ken Carson, all of which represent the Opium record label. His music has been described as “existing between swag rap and esoteric punk.”
One Carti fan, Adam Franklin, told Northeast Valley News before the show, “I fucking love all these artists, they’re so fucking good at performing, let’s fucking get it, baby.”
The setup consisted of a high-rise railed stage, two duty trucks in the pit erupting fog, and later during Carti’s set, two semi-trucks appeared beneath the raised stage and frequent flames emitted from the stage.
Some fans, excited about the performance, recalled past Carti performances they’ve attended.
“That shit was wild. We snuck into the mosh pit, we found wristbands in the trash can, snuck into the mosh pit, and went fucking crazy, dude. That shit was awesome,” said Landon Valdez.
Humberto Gallegos described the show this way: “It was beautiful. It was the most amazing experience, I swear to God, in my life.”
While some skipped out on Apollo Red’s set, the crowd piled in for Homixide Gang, only to go crazy for the artists that followed.
“I need this shit to explode, I need this fucking building to just collapse right now,” Gallegos said while waiting for Ken Carson to come out.
The Opium label’s fanbase continues to grow and attracts thousands of eager fans, jumping at the opportunity to pay anywhere from $200-$1,500 to see their favorite artists.
It’s clear that prices won’t stop devoted fans from coming out for the shows, as almost half of the cities visited have been sold out.
Fans hungry for tickets after the first Antagonist tour was postponed several times before being officially canceled and then rescheduled for the 2025 Antagonist 2.0 tour were more than ready.
Fans left beaming when Carti ended the night with the popularly unreleased song, “24 songs,” and joined other artists on top of one of the duty trucks in the mosh pit.
Along with many celebrity sightings, including North West, Shannon and Shenade Clermont, was Phoenix Suns player, Bol Bol.
