2 Chainz Checks the Boxes at Summerfest

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When you have a litany of hits, plenty of established superstar status, and thousands of fans clamoring to see you perform, there’s not much that you have to do as a performer to get over with the crowd at a festival. 2 Chainz was well aware of that on Friday night at Summerfest, delivering plenty of music at the USCellular Connections Stage, and letting his fans provide much of the energy.

As one of the higher profile names on Friday night’s lineup, the crowd filled the entirety of the Connections Stage area of the grounds, pushing into the neighboring Johnson Controls World Sound Stage as well as the main foot traffic of the festival. Even before the night’s headliner took the stage, much of the crowd were ready for a party, milling through the outside of the bleachers while the touring DJ ran through a short set of songs to bring the energy up around the stage. After about five minutes, 2 Chainz emerged to the sound of a bomb drop, and wasted no time running through a set that would feel like a summary of his greatest hits.

In the late stages of his roughly hour-long set, 2 Chainz would confess “I got a lot of shit, man” to the Summerfest crowd. In fairness, he’s not wrong. Just about everything that the Atlanta rapper has put out has racked up millions of streams. Not one song reached its completion on Friday, but that was never really the plan. The setlist would feature a pair of Drake-assisted tracks early on, with “No Lie” and “All Me,” the latter being a song that 2 Chainz has a guest verse on. The bleachers played the role of the Canadian rapper, delivering every bar back to the stage on cue. In fact, that would be the case for much of the night, with 2 Chainz splitting the time with the mic to his mouth and pointed towards the crowd about evenly. When he wanted to, though, he proved that he could spit verses with the sharpest of deliveries. His microphone was mixed fairly high, which made that delivery loud and clear to the crowd. Unfortunately, though, it also exposed how much time he wasn’t on the microphone.

The brightest spots of Friday night’s set, though, were when 2 Chainz could lock into performing at his peak. Certain songs could perk up the energy from the rapper, including Pretty Girls Like Trap Music cuts “Good Drank” and “4 AM,” which sent the crowd into a frenzy. He also tapped into his previous alias, Tity Boi of group Playaz Circle, for his first hit, “Duffle Bag Boy,” which was delivered with more heart than much of the set. When speaking to the crowd, he was especially light-hearted, and proceeded to mention his fondness for Atlanta strip clubs before a group of backup dancers assisted him for “I Luv Dem Strippers.” He would also inform the crowd that at his shows, he liked to keep things mellow. “Have some drinks, smoke your weed, and have a good night” he quipped to the crowd, to a roaring response. The show closed on the Kanye West-assisted “Birthday Song,” in which 2 Chainz asked the crowd to shine phone flashlights on anyone with a birthday that night. Seemingly, all of the crowd was born on Friday, and everyone in attendance partied like that was the occasion.

There is some benefit of the doubt to be had. On his Instagram story earlier in the day, probably from his home, the rapper disclosed that Friday was the 10-year anniversary of his father’s passing. That doesn’t bode well for having to entertain thousands of people later in the night. It also implies that his set was a one-off performance, which was corroborated by a lack of any sort of stage design. Friday night featured just a DJ, a performer, and a lively crowd that was able to carry 2 Chainz over the threshold of a contractually-obligated hour, with the patrons at the US Cellular Connections Stage leaving overwhelmingly positively at the end of the night. It may not have been a standout performance, but it wasn’t one that left the people dissatisfied, either.