Atlanta & Tyler

In the beginning of February I wasn’t doing much, going out a lot, so I started developing a serious case of FOMO while looking through social media. My best friend was in Dallas and had been traveling to Austin and just taking in all that those cities had to offer. I remember telling myself at the beginning of the year, “I’m going to start traveling more and just experiencing more by doing things outside of my comfort zone.” After midnight on NYE, my friend Mari convinced me to do the whole cliche thing and ran outside with luggage and screamed my wish out loud.

That same day when the fomo hit, I started looking at concerts in my neighboring cities. Saw a couple of good ones that I got tickets to like Milo & JPEGMAFIA, and Injury Reserve. Hella stoked for these events. I also remembered the ongoing tour that Tyler, the Creator was doing in support of his album from last year, Flower Boy, which btw is DEFINITELY worth checking out. Tyler really solidifies a lot of his musical elements, from rap flow, production, and to just having a well balanced message behind his album. He really grew a lot as a musician over the past couple of years. Check out this review if you’re interested.

But yeah so I saw he was playing in ATL so I decided to grab a ticket. Funny thing is, I was in ATL last year in January for a minute. That same best friend took his girlfriend and I to checkout a Bernie Sanders speech and to explore some of the city, so there was def some nostalgia as I was driving through, and just remembering the type of person I was a year previously

So at 6 AM on Saturday I woke up, got my things together, and drove. It was raining the whole fucking way, to and from. 😑 I listened to both Flower Boy and Big Fish Theory twice as like a prep for the concert. But, as I was driving down, I couldn’t help but feel so lucky to have the ability to do what I was doing. I wanted to do something, like give 4 hours to see a musician, and I did it. I had all the resources to do exactly what I wanted to do. I felt both powerful by my ability to do so and humbled because of where I come from and where I grew up.

As soon as I got there, I hit up the Georgia Aquarium where I got to see a Beluga Whale for the first time in my life. I saw different types of jellyfish, whale sharks, penguins, sea otters, and other amazing animals. Beluga Whales have a special place in my heart, always been a fan of them ever since I was little.

Then hit up The Vortex in Little Five Points, which I visited last year. Had some drinks and overheard a father and daughter reuniting next to me at the bar. One of the highlights from eavesdropping on their conversation was, “I haven’t seen you eat tater-tots since you were five years old.”

Got a couple of records in some of the shops like Criminal Records in the neighborhood.

And then drove to a hotel near the concert venue and made my way to the concert. I have no idea why I’ve waited this long to go to one of Tyler’s concerts. It was great time and left me temporarily deaf in my left ear the next day. Taco started the concert off with a small DJ set, that had some trippy anime visuals. Vince Staples’ show was waay more set up, and each song and moment in his set were linked to the visuals very nicely. It linked up nicely and it went through the majority of the Big Fish Theory album. Tyler’s show had a fucking forest has the main stage, and he did a great job at keeping the audience engaged and having fun. Hearing him do “She” brought me back to 2011 nicely.

Next day I woke up early and drove back. All in all, it was a small but fun trip. Excited to do this for a different city.

Some of the pics from that day.

Vince & Tyler at Infinite Energy Stadium

Originally published on willchavez.com on February 13, 2018.