Travis Scott just performed his first Utopia concert today at Rome’s Circus Maximus—a public park that was once the largest chariot-racing track in the Roman Empire. The show opened with the first three songs from Utopia in a row, ostensibly telegraphing that Scott would perform the album in its entirety straight through. Eventually, though, he interrupted Utopia with hits like “Highest in the Room” and “Butterfly Effect.” Scott wore shoulder pads and jumped atop a fake rock formation on a set in front of what appeared to be countless giant amps and speakers. The massive crowd in Rome could be heard singing the choruses.
Kanye West joined Scott and they diverged from the album’s tracklist for a performance of “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” Scott offered this commentary: “There is no Utopia without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West. There is no Rome without Kanye West. Make some noise for Ye.”
Later in the set, he performed his Weeknd and Bad Bunny-featuring single “K-Pop,” which he followed with the Beyoncé and Justin Vernon-featuring “Delresto (Echoes).” Scott wasn’t seen on stage while his DJ played “Delresto,” returning only for the very end of the song and a subsequent performance of “Lost Forever.”
He followed that with another pre-Utopia cut “Mafia,” which was released right before the 2021 Astroworld tragedy. Following its performance, he revealed that he cut the track from Utopia in favor of “I Know,” which he said was one of the last songs he recorded for the project.
Following a couple false starts after Scott brought a fan onstage for “Meltdown” and lectured him for his inadequate raging, Scott performed another Drake feature in “Sicko Mode.” He followed that with two other hits: “Antidote” and “Goosebumps.” He thanked the crowd and closed with “Telekinesis,” which he performed from the backseat of a car.
Scott had planned to perform at the Pyramids of Giza on the night of the album’s release, but the concert was canceled. He later promised that he had planned for other similar events before announcing tonight’s Circus Maximus performance. Scott recently gave his new movie Circus Maximus a theatrical release.
Read Pitchfork’s review of Utopia and “5 Takeaways From Travis Scott’s New Album Utopia.”
Setlist:
Hyaena
Thank God
Modern Jam
Aye
Sirens
Praise God (with Kanye West)
Can’t Tell Me Nothing (with Kanye West)
My Eyes
Butterfly Effect
Highest in the Room
Delresto (Echoes)
Lost Forever
Mafia
I Know ?
No Bystanders
Fe!n
Topia Twins
Beibs in the Trap
Gatti
Meltdown
Sicko Mode
Antidote
Goosebumps
Telekinesis
This article was originally published on August 7 at 3:34 p.m. Eastern. It was last updated on August 7 at 4:54 p.m. Eastern.
