May 12, 2017, I alongside one of my best friends Katie went to see Chance the Rapper perform live at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Center. The entire experience was a whirlwind. We only decided to get tickets on earlier that week upon learning there were general admission tickets still left. We jumped at the “chance”.
The day of the concert we came early to claim our tickets at the ticket booth and to scope the lengths of lines at the gates. We came about six hours before the concert would officially start and gates wouldn’t open until an hour befor but lines had already formed. Katie and I decided to just roam around St. Paul to pass time and catch up.
As we explored the city, we passed many people who were definitely headed to the concert. Many wore merchandise signifying past tours or wore clothes “Chance-esque”: T-shirt, half-buttoned overalls and the infamous cap with the 3 representing his Grammies.
We returned back to the Xcel around 5 pm, two hours before gates opened and it was already getting packed. We somehow snagged a decent spot in line and again just sat and chatted amongst each other. There’d be enough standing later. We saw a friend from high school and got even closer towards the gates and surprisingly enough I saw some other peers but from my college. Honestly, what a small world.
Lots of people back at school were devastated to hear Chance would be visiting Omaha once everyone had left for finals and lots of the Minnesota kids felt the same since it was announced his concert was sold out. I guess Katie and I had a fair share of “Blessings” in getting tickets, general admission at that too.
Once they opened the gates, it was a mad dash to the floor of the concert venue and to squeeze your way to front. I heard guy betting they’d get a girl to sit on their shoulders and that definitely a safety hazard. The ambiance of the general admission area was more of a mosh pit over the chill vibes of Coachella. If you were in any ways claustrophobic, this would be your biggest nightmare.
The openers played their set, too long in my opinion and plus you couldn’t understand what they were saying. Then a DJ played for another hour and people were getting rowdy pushing one another to get closer towards the stage as they got antsy for Chance. At this point, if you weren’t wearing a sweat sweater, were you even at the concert?
Chance finally made his entrance around 9:45 and what an entrance with his songs “Mixtape” and “Blessings”. His special effects of basically light/fire bursting added to the excitement the sold arena felt that Chance finally came out.
His concert revolved around returning to “Blessings” frequently. He didn’t really complete any songs but gave enough verses and course to the crowd jumping and rapping along with him. He gave tributes to his earlier music by playing some tunes from “Acid Rap” and playing my personal favorite “Sunday Candy” from the album “Surf” by his pals Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment. In general, he played music from his album “The Coloring Book”.
It was hard to tell when the concert would end as Chance kept mentioning “One more song” and he felt a strong connection to the city as he remembered playing on First Ave when he was still a growing artist. Towards the end of the concert, he had a bridge from the main stage hover over the general admission section towards the opposite side of the arena. I’ve never been in a position in my concert experiences to truly feel an artist to be possibly arm’s reach.
Once the concert ended, everything felt like a haze. It was a mass exodus to parking spots. Heads were still ringing with the music.
I’m not gonna deny waking up the morning after, my legs were sore from all the standing and jumping but since it was to see Chance, it was “No Problem”.
