Image via Rolling Loud / @Snap_LL
What will it be like to be in a crowd full of people at a festival again?
It’s a question that’s been on many of our minds since the pandemic began.
Will this be our generation’s Summer of Love? We’ll all witness a glorious reunion of the masses after isolation? Throughout a hellacious past year and a half, the prospects of concerts returning has been a light at the end of the tunnel for many. And this summer, live shows have finally come back in phases.
In early July, Tyler, the Creator invited a few thousand fans to pop-up shows at intimate venues in LA, Dallas, and New York. I went to the one in Brooklyn, and the small-scale performance made for a nice stepping stone back to full-blown public concerts. Then this past weekend in Atlanta, Kanye West put on one of the first stadium rap shows since early 2020. Well, it wasn’t really a show—he played a version of his new album and walked around in a red outfit that he’s probably still wearing. (You can read the rest of my thoughts on that experience here.)