Written by Spenser Leise
I drove three hours to Minneapolis to catch Danny Brown’s Stardust Tour, featuring underscores and Femtanyl. The short answer to how it was? Unreal.
Femtanyl opened the night, and going in, she was the biggest unknown for me. Her music feels like the purest form of being online. It’s chaotic and overstimulating in the best way possible. Because of that, I was a little nervous about how the crowd would respond. Would it be stiff? Low energy?
Absolutely not.
The room was moving immediately. I could barely get any videos because the crowd was shifting in so many ways. Minneapolis deserves some credit for this. This is a city that knows how to match a performer’s energy. I had a similar experience seeing Denzel Curry a while back. Femtanyl’s roughly 30-minute set was intense and loud. It felt like a headliner, but there was much more to go, so I was ecstatic.
Then came underscores, which is why I was there in the first place. She did not disappoint. The crowd was nuts. My biggest mistake in going to this concert was the food leading up to it. I had one Fairlife protein drink before the show and nothing else, so by the time I was jumping around for her set, I was feeling a little more lightheaded than I would have liked.
Her 45-minute performance was impressive and engaging. The visuals and the song selection were incredible. She teased two new songs while also playing both singles from her upcoming project. She closed with what’s quickly becoming a modern hyperpop classic, Music. It was truly an experience, and if she goes on tour again, I’ll be front row.
Could Danny Brown top that for me personally? Not quite, but it was still a great set, and for entirely different reasons. A large portion of his performance was pulled from Stardust (being the Stardust tour, this made sense). His stage presence is natural, and the production design stood out immediately. The main centerpiece was a massive LED box that shifted and flashed colors throughout the set, giving the performance a distinct look, which I loved.
One of the biggest surprises of the night was Danny performing his part on two of his features: “Psychoboost” with Jane Remover and “Shake It Like” with Frost Children. Both songs were electric, especially “Psychoboost.”
To close things out, Danny brought Femtanyl and underscores back on stage to perform their features with him. Hearing “Copycats” live, after it’s been on repeat in my car for months, was unreal. Hearing both sides of that song in the same room felt special in a way only live shows can pull off.Although the Stardust tour is now over, if you have the chance to see any of these artists in concert, go. They are all incredible performers. Femtanyl is going on tour later this year, and underscores is presumed to have a release this year, so keep a lookout!
