Photos By: Jason Koerner
Last night, every Chance The Rapper fan that crowded themselves into the Filmore became family, not bonded by blood or comradery, but by our mutual love of music and energy that was put together. Family truly mattered to everyone on the Family Matters tour; it was more than just a theme, it was the essence and raw emotion of the night. The sold out show was also chosen to be live streamed, making the 305 the de-facto vision of the tour. An ensemble cast of artists embarked with Chance including Towkio, D.R.A.M., Metro Boomin (want some more), and of course, The Social Experiment.
While unknown to most of the crowd, Towkio was able to persuade everyone to jam along with him. D.R.A.M.’s rendition of the Family Matters theme was appreciated, and followed it up with “Cha Cha.” Metro Boomin (which has been having one hell of a year) was playing victory laps of his current hits, hyping up everyone. Towkio and D.R.A.M. also played their respective collaborations with Chance (“Heaven only knows”, “Caretaker”) which satisfied the anticipation. Our opening acts each had their own flavor, along with stressing the night’s theme: family. Hannibal Buress even showed up in the form of an announcer, making way for the spectacle that is Chance The Rapper and The Social Experiment.
The lights go dark, and the shuffling of silhouettes in the stage signal everyone to chant “We want Chance!” Out of the darkness emerges a sound “ooouuhh woooh”, in which the crowd immediately mimicks. The screams were instantly muffled once Chance jumped on stage to “Everybody’s Something,” invoking a sensational chorus from the audience that would continue throughout the whole night. The air was just different, you could feel the energy radiating off the Social Experiments instruments and Chance’s voice.
“Let me introduce myself, cause we all family, but we haven’t met yet. My name is Chance The Rapper. I’m from Chicago, Illinois. And I’m here to perform some songs off of my mixtape, Acid Rap.”
Chance played nearly every song of Acid Rap, and he didn’t let us forget how much he hates his ex, gracing us with his verse off of Action Bronson’s “Baby Blue” then transitioning into his verse on “Heaven Knows”, “The Way” and “Church.” We were thrown back to a couple of songs on 10Day, drafting the older fans from the crowd to join in. As great as this all was, things didn’t really start till “Juice” came on.
“There’s an actual mathematic equation in science. If you have a sold out building worth of people, the value of that group. If everyone jumps at the same fucking time. You can shake the actual structure of the building.”
After successfully getting the crowd to jump, Chance made sure to emphasize the reason he was there, the same reason we were. It was love for our family, the one we had all created and been a part of that night. Naturally, “That’s Love” followed his heartfelt speech. He proceeded to make our city do some front flips with “Angels,” one of Chance’s newest singles (hopefully a sign of a new mixtape/album?!). “Everyday” was simply joyous, starting off slow and building up as Chance freestyled off the remix. You could feel the passion off of every word that he sang. Between songs he would whisper comments on how the crowd is doing, and how he wanted us to interact. After playing “Sunday Candy”, we were given a double-whammy of a finisher, erupting into “Cocoa Butter Kisses” and “Chain Smoker.”
What truly stole the show was the Social Experiment playing live in conjunction with Chance The Rapper. Every song was performed with minimal background track, the sound was pure and original. Donnie Trumpet was an all-star, his flaring trumpet solos lifted up the room, and called for numerous ovations from the crowd. The Social Experiment is a family, and that relationship with one another was shown through their perfectly synchronized and spontaneous performance. This is something that no DJ can replicate, the explosion of live instruments propelling the already amazing music being offered. Let me also give a nod the lights and visual team, which made the show look as awesome as it sounded.
If you know anything about Chance The Rapper, you know he seeks to spread a message of positivity and better times ahead. This was reflected in every word, every combustive dance move, and every robust scream and shout from the crowd. The ambience Chance The Rapper set was only as strong as the vibe as the crowd gave out. This was a rare event where a performance turned into an experience that you immersed yourself, and came out better for it. If you weren’t there, make sure to check out the livestream at chanceraps.com.
