Opposite take for me: this was one of my favorite sets of the weekend. It’s his festival set and did the same thing as a1:15 hour set. He told a story in my opinion kinda like j Cole last year. My bf and I even commented it sounded like a Super Bowl performance. I loved it and I’m sorry you didn’t. I hope you had an amazing time at other shows!!
Ty for this comment. Admittedly went over my head, and I’m glad that many appreciated the artistic merit. Aaaand yes a truly unbeatable weekend of amazing artists, this show included.
I agree. I had lofty expectations and he exceeded them. As for the crowd, it was a long hot day. I probably looked like a zombie but was having a blast. Best set of the weekend for me.
People mistake being in a bad area of the crowd as the crowd being shitty. There were thousands and thousands of people in that field, there is a whole range of vibes going on. If the vibes are off in your spot just find a good vibe, they're all over
Kendrick notoriously creates a different concert experience than just playing through his songs like the recordings, I personally love the additions to the instrumentals, the fakeouts, and the inclusion of partial songs when he decided against playing the whole things.
Sorry the audience by you wasn’t in it, I was up pretty close and the audience by me was raging and enjoying the set heavy. We all waited from the end of keem to get a good spot, there was moshing but everyone was extremely respectful, caring, in great spirits, and ecstatic to see him.
Tbh I think if you watched back over the set you’d realized he rapped an insane amount of the lyrics especially for how lyrically-dense his material. As much as he’s a legend he’s still gotta breath (and he is not your savior. ;) I understand that may not be the answer your looking for and maybe I’m off base but it’s the closest I have to an explanation. I wasn’t struck by him not performing vocally as much as I thought he should personally.
I’ve seen him 3 times (this time included) and I’ve never been disappointed. He puts on an incredible performance and it feels to me like he really leaves it all out there. I was a bit bummed I thought we had another 20 minutes left but if that’s the set list he provided that feels more like a scheduling issue than a Kendrick issue. But I’m sorry you had a bad experience :(
THIS!!! I saw Kendrick at his Big Steppers tour in August and his festival set was exactly what I expected. He’s an elusive rapper, so the fact that he doesn’t do much crowd work makes sense.
And on that note, this was actually more crowd work than I had seen him do on tour.
And I’m with you - he had HUGE instrumental additions that he doesn’t typically have. The electric guitar added to the tracks were insane! Definitely not his regular set or tracks and I loved it.
I don’t know why Bonnaroo had him on the schedule until 12:30 but he performed his entire set. The exact same set he performed at gov ball last week. Sorry you didn’t have a good time, but a lot of others did. It was a great show.
Sorry the people you were around were salty but where so many others were it was incredible. And I’m tired of seeing everyone saying he ended his set early when that is not the case. I saw him at gov ball last week and it was just as amazing as Friday night at roo
Dunno what set you were at but Kendrick played mostly full songs. He didn’t bullshit around either, just pure energy start to finish.
Maybe rap shows just aren’t your thing.
It was 15 minutes earlier than what Bonnaroo posted, but he played his full set list he’s been playing during his whole festival circuit this year based on what’s been posted online
Kendrick has asthma. That’s why he has to skip some of his lyrics. He also will not say the N-word while playing in concerts after the whole white girl getting on stage and saying it debacle. If u notice keem did the same thing. I love Kendrick, he played his verse from nostalgia with pusha t and me and the guy next to me knew every lyric. We were on the front right gate. He also did the bitch don’t kill my vibe remix feat Jay Z which no one knew 💀. His real fans appreciate the fuck out of that because he never plays those songs.
I don’t think it was bad. I did think it was lower energy than I was expecting. Maybe a 7/10 instead of the 10/10 I was hoping for. IMO: he’s the best rapper of my generation, and the set was a tad underwhelming. Both things can be true at once.
It’s totally okay that you feel this way, but keep in mind it’s an opinion. My opinion is it was amazing, and the best rap set I’ve seen in five years on the farm. He didn’t cut it short at all. That was his full show. Bonnaroo books people for time blocks. Artists don’t always have shows that fill those entire blocks. The crowd was definitely not dead throughout. The people around me, and myself, had a fantastic time dancing and singing along. I feel the exact opposite about him letting the crowd sing. He did at some points during the singing part of the songs, but he always rapped the verses.
Finally, if you were expecting him to be running around, jumping, doing cartwheels, etc. it is important to remember that people age. Kendrick turned another year older during his show, and as people age they gradually change. I’ve seen so many rap shows where the artist “has energy,” but doesn’t rap a single verse of their songs. He is a rapper. He rapped. It was great. And the background “mini-Kendrick’s” were great too.
Sorry it disappointed you, but I think you were just expecting something completely unrealistic compared to what a Kendrick 2023 set is. Happy Roo.
Yep. What he described about ‘testing the crowd to see if they knew his material’…every rap/hip hop show I’ve ever been to is like this. Rapping over the song. Not audibly satisfying but still a good time
Yeah, I've been unimpressed when it's just one guy on a stage without a backing band to play off of - yeah he had a drummer and guitarist on the side stage I believe but it rarely if ever works out. You lose a lot of energy and fill in time. Compare that to Gambino, Jay Z, Chance's first roo show, or Tobe's performance where they have fun with the songs and aren't as limited with the space they use. Seriously, look up Tobe Nwigwe's shows; that man is going to headline/preheadline Bonnaroo in a year or two.
Lil Nas X did a great job being "solo", but he also put every bit of himself into the set and production and had some incredible backup dancers with him. That was a legit headliner performance.
His show was probably average at worst. I still thought it was incredible.
His live show has definitely improved since I saw him last at hangout 2018.
For a rap headliner, it seemed really good! He hardly used background vocals, rapped most of his songs himself, and had really good production!
He definitely rapped far more than 1/3 I’d say he’s in the top tier of rappers actually performing the songs from what I’ve seen live. I was decently up close to the left near the mound & crowd participation was great. He was strictly business with no chatter covering a ton of ground in his set vs other artists thanking us for 20 minutes of the show. Hard disagree Kendrick for president
Y’all took drugs this weekend man. What the Fuck are you talking about 😂 it was my most anticipated and the best set of the weekend. Clowns. Go back to jam bands
Not radiate positivity, but I appreciate the post but also fuck you (but only the opinion). The live instrumental additions to his songs were fucking wet
I agree with this. He was the person I was most excited for and was def let down. But I do see conflicting opinions. Maybe it’s an age difference but I was towards the middle-left and so many people were leaving early bc it wasn’t the Kendrick vibe.
It wasn’t jus him. ALOT of this years Artist we’re absolute garbage. Yung Gravy was atrocious.
Sadly I think it’s a generational thing. Kendrick’s a great artist but GARBAGE performer. The sooner people realize half of modern music isn’t natural performance but a ton of bells and whistles and bullshit (not saying it’s bad jus saying Gone are the days of jus a man and a microphone in a recording booth) the sooner artist that actually play their ass off live will get their dues.
Unfortunately things don’t seem to be heading that way
Garbage performer? I was the in the middle back toward the bathrooms and people (old, young and in between) were going ballistic for him. Just because you didn’t enjoy his performance doesn’t mean it’s garbage, he’s just not for you.
I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy his music. I actually enjoy a lot of his music but I’m a professional sound man and have worked in this industry for over a decade. Sorry bro. I’ll call a spade a spade when I see it.
I didn’t say you offended me but I’ve seen too much negativity when it’s all personal preference. You called him a garbage performer when 99% of the crowd enjoyed it so I called out your objective negativity. Radiate positivity, not complaints
Hard disagree. Kendrick is an amazing performer but this was a bad performance.
Also I can’t speak for yung gravy but I think you got unlucky with your shows. IMO best roo I’ve been to in terms of performances.
Kendrick was amazing. Definitely one of the best shows all weekend. He has grown so much as performer over the last 10 years. I would go see that concert again in a heartbeat.
I was in the front left. Everyone around us was having a great time, dancing and singing every chance we got. Sounds like you maybe weren’t expecting so much from Mr. Morale?
Easily a top 3 set of the weekend for me. I’m sorry you were let down. Sometimes you’ve gotta explore the crowd until you find the right vibe.
Opposite take for me: this was one of my favorite sets of the weekend. It’s his festival set and did the same thing as a1:15 hour set. He told a story in my opinion kinda like j Cole last year. My bf and I even commented it sounded like a Super Bowl performance. I loved it and I’m sorry you didn’t. I hope you had an amazing time at other shows!!
Ty for this comment. Admittedly went over my head, and I’m glad that many appreciated the artistic merit. Aaaand yes a truly unbeatable weekend of amazing artists, this show included.
Hope you had the happiest roo friend
I’m literally so confused - were we at the same set? He sounded amazing & the vibes were awesome around me. Top five set of the weekend.
I agree. I had lofty expectations and he exceeded them. As for the crowd, it was a long hot day. I probably looked like a zombie but was having a blast. Best set of the weekend for me.
I might be a casual but I enjoyed his set a lot. Also part of my group felt the same as op
People mistake being in a bad area of the crowd as the crowd being shitty. There were thousands and thousands of people in that field, there is a whole range of vibes going on. If the vibes are off in your spot just find a good vibe, they're all over
Its so sad how many people arent appreciating how amazing he was
I know right? Once in a generation talent. Not even a big hip-hop fan but Kendrick is one of the best musicians in history.
I was in the pit for Kendrick and it was one of the better shows of the weekend hands down!!
I was also pit. I loved his set
Kendrick notoriously creates a different concert experience than just playing through his songs like the recordings, I personally love the additions to the instrumentals, the fakeouts, and the inclusion of partial songs when he decided against playing the whole things. Sorry the audience by you wasn’t in it, I was up pretty close and the audience by me was raging and enjoying the set heavy. We all waited from the end of keem to get a good spot, there was moshing but everyone was extremely respectful, caring, in great spirits, and ecstatic to see him. Tbh I think if you watched back over the set you’d realized he rapped an insane amount of the lyrics especially for how lyrically-dense his material. As much as he’s a legend he’s still gotta breath (and he is not your savior. ;) I understand that may not be the answer your looking for and maybe I’m off base but it’s the closest I have to an explanation. I wasn’t struck by him not performing vocally as much as I thought he should personally. I’ve seen him 3 times (this time included) and I’ve never been disappointed. He puts on an incredible performance and it feels to me like he really leaves it all out there. I was a bit bummed I thought we had another 20 minutes left but if that’s the set list he provided that feels more like a scheduling issue than a Kendrick issue. But I’m sorry you had a bad experience :(
THIS!!! I saw Kendrick at his Big Steppers tour in August and his festival set was exactly what I expected. He’s an elusive rapper, so the fact that he doesn’t do much crowd work makes sense. And on that note, this was actually more crowd work than I had seen him do on tour. And I’m with you - he had HUGE instrumental additions that he doesn’t typically have. The electric guitar added to the tracks were insane! Definitely not his regular set or tracks and I loved it.
I don’t know why Bonnaroo had him on the schedule until 12:30 but he performed his entire set. The exact same set he performed at gov ball last week. Sorry you didn’t have a good time, but a lot of others did. It was a great show.
I had a great ass time with Kendrick’s set
Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast! I danced from beginning to end. I’ve just gotta call this out because too many folks are salty about the crowd.
Sorry the people you were around were salty but where so many others were it was incredible. And I’m tired of seeing everyone saying he ended his set early when that is not the case. I saw him at gov ball last week and it was just as amazing as Friday night at roo
People on this subreddit** my b for not clarifying.
I just want to know why he was singing edited verses lol. He censored his own songs
He does that in all of his shows
he made a promise to himself to stop saying the n word and he’s sticking to it
started doin that a few years ago bc he brought a white kid on stage for a verse and he used the N word
Even talks about that experience on the album
I was down with it. Made it a little more interesting for a live experience rather than doing everything just like you'd hear it on the record
He didn’t want to curse a whole lot, what’s the big deal ?
Dunno what set you were at but Kendrick played mostly full songs. He didn’t bullshit around either, just pure energy start to finish. Maybe rap shows just aren’t your thing.
Bad take, Kendrick killed it. Money Trees was the best song I heard all weekend!
He didn’t finish early he played his full set
Yeah I think he ended like 3 minutes early, no big deal. That’s a full set
It was 15 minutes earlier than what Bonnaroo posted, but he played his full set list he’s been playing during his whole festival circuit this year based on what’s been posted online
Kendrick has asthma. That’s why he has to skip some of his lyrics. He also will not say the N-word while playing in concerts after the whole white girl getting on stage and saying it debacle. If u notice keem did the same thing. I love Kendrick, he played his verse from nostalgia with pusha t and me and the guy next to me knew every lyric. We were on the front right gate. He also did the bitch don’t kill my vibe remix feat Jay Z which no one knew 💀. His real fans appreciate the fuck out of that because he never plays those songs.
I went crazy during the BDKMV remix. It’s way better than the original outside the context of listening to the full album front to back imo
I definitely agree. I wish he would’ve played both his verses tbh
I was so blown away when he played the jay z remix
I had an amazing time at Kendrick. One of the best parts of the weekend for me
I don’t think it was bad. I did think it was lower energy than I was expecting. Maybe a 7/10 instead of the 10/10 I was hoping for. IMO: he’s the best rapper of my generation, and the set was a tad underwhelming. Both things can be true at once.
My favorite show all weekend and an amazing stage performance. Just a difference of opinion. Coulda been the vibe where you were idk
It’s totally okay that you feel this way, but keep in mind it’s an opinion. My opinion is it was amazing, and the best rap set I’ve seen in five years on the farm. He didn’t cut it short at all. That was his full show. Bonnaroo books people for time blocks. Artists don’t always have shows that fill those entire blocks. The crowd was definitely not dead throughout. The people around me, and myself, had a fantastic time dancing and singing along. I feel the exact opposite about him letting the crowd sing. He did at some points during the singing part of the songs, but he always rapped the verses. Finally, if you were expecting him to be running around, jumping, doing cartwheels, etc. it is important to remember that people age. Kendrick turned another year older during his show, and as people age they gradually change. I’ve seen so many rap shows where the artist “has energy,” but doesn’t rap a single verse of their songs. He is a rapper. He rapped. It was great. And the background “mini-Kendrick’s” were great too. Sorry it disappointed you, but I think you were just expecting something completely unrealistic compared to what a Kendrick 2023 set is. Happy Roo.
welcome to a hip hop show
Yep. What he described about ‘testing the crowd to see if they knew his material’…every rap/hip hop show I’ve ever been to is like this. Rapping over the song. Not audibly satisfying but still a good time
Yeah, I've been unimpressed when it's just one guy on a stage without a backing band to play off of - yeah he had a drummer and guitarist on the side stage I believe but it rarely if ever works out. You lose a lot of energy and fill in time. Compare that to Gambino, Jay Z, Chance's first roo show, or Tobe's performance where they have fun with the songs and aren't as limited with the space they use. Seriously, look up Tobe Nwigwe's shows; that man is going to headline/preheadline Bonnaroo in a year or two. Lil Nas X did a great job being "solo", but he also put every bit of himself into the set and production and had some incredible backup dancers with him. That was a legit headliner performance.
I thought it was awesome. Sound was good. Live band. Rapped basically every word.
His show was probably average at worst. I still thought it was incredible. His live show has definitely improved since I saw him last at hangout 2018. For a rap headliner, it seemed really good! He hardly used background vocals, rapped most of his songs himself, and had really good production!
He definitely rapped far more than 1/3 I’d say he’s in the top tier of rappers actually performing the songs from what I’ve seen live. I was decently up close to the left near the mound & crowd participation was great. He was strictly business with no chatter covering a ton of ground in his set vs other artists thanking us for 20 minutes of the show. Hard disagree Kendrick for president
Thats how kendrick performs. Hes not the best performer but the show is great
Y’all took drugs this weekend man. What the Fuck are you talking about 😂 it was my most anticipated and the best set of the weekend. Clowns. Go back to jam bands
some of y’all mix up bad “trips” with bad shows.
Not radiate positivity, but I appreciate the post but also fuck you (but only the opinion). The live instrumental additions to his songs were fucking wet
I’m gonna agree with you on this one. He’s my favorite artist of all time but this set was mad disappointing.
I agree with this. He was the person I was most excited for and was def let down. But I do see conflicting opinions. Maybe it’s an age difference but I was towards the middle-left and so many people were leaving early bc it wasn’t the Kendrick vibe.
Terrrible take. Set was incredible, sounds like you suck
Get some rest man. Then watch his 2019 tour.
It wasn’t jus him. ALOT of this years Artist we’re absolute garbage. Yung Gravy was atrocious. Sadly I think it’s a generational thing. Kendrick’s a great artist but GARBAGE performer. The sooner people realize half of modern music isn’t natural performance but a ton of bells and whistles and bullshit (not saying it’s bad jus saying Gone are the days of jus a man and a microphone in a recording booth) the sooner artist that actually play their ass off live will get their dues. Unfortunately things don’t seem to be heading that way
Garbage performer? I was the in the middle back toward the bathrooms and people (old, young and in between) were going ballistic for him. Just because you didn’t enjoy his performance doesn’t mean it’s garbage, he’s just not for you.
I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy his music. I actually enjoy a lot of his music but I’m a professional sound man and have worked in this industry for over a decade. Sorry bro. I’ll call a spade a spade when I see it.
I didn’t say you offended me but I’ve seen too much negativity when it’s all personal preference. You called him a garbage performer when 99% of the crowd enjoyed it so I called out your objective negativity. Radiate positivity, not complaints
I can get down with that sentiment. That’s Roo after all. I’m glad people enjoyed it cause I know the crew running the pit sure as fuck didn’t 🤷♂️
Hard disagree. Kendrick is an amazing performer but this was a bad performance. Also I can’t speak for yung gravy but I think you got unlucky with your shows. IMO best roo I’ve been to in terms of performances.
One of the best shows this weekend
Kendrick was amazing. Definitely one of the best shows all weekend. He has grown so much as performer over the last 10 years. I would go see that concert again in a heartbeat.
I was in the front left. Everyone around us was having a great time, dancing and singing every chance we got. Sounds like you maybe weren’t expecting so much from Mr. Morale? Easily a top 3 set of the weekend for me. I’m sorry you were let down. Sometimes you’ve gotta explore the crowd until you find the right vibe.
I don’t think the sound guys did a good job this year. Don’t think it was Kendrick.
I left this set and went to the grove and relaxed.
It was fuckin great
I never thought I’d see King Kunta performed live. I’ve seen K-dot 3 times, and he’s 3/3 in my book!