On April 14th, 2012 I attended a concert at Celebrity Theater with my friend Karen. I'm not a big fan of this theater just because I don't like how the seating is all the way around the stage. The stage usually rotates but on the night I attended Tech N9nes Hostile Takeover Tour the stage was at a standstill. The seating made it awkward for the performers since they were trying to interact with every side of the stage. The show was still interesting and I was not disappointed.
I'm not a huge fan of Tech N9ne; I was mainly at the show to see the opening act Machine Gun Kelly (MGK). I have been following MGK and his movement "Lace Up" for a while now and I was just waiting for him to come to Arizona for a show. I follow a handful of his fans on twitter and from what I heard his shows were unforgettable. MGK is known for his die-hard fans "EST". Since I've been following MGK you could say I would fall into this category "EST army". Me being the die-hard MGK fan I am it was a guarantee I would be at this show.
Going into this concert I was expecting it to be wild, rough, and out of control. Let's just say I was not disappointed. The first few acts were some up and coming artists I didn't know very well. Considering I was only at the concert to "rage" with MGK they performed very well. By the end of the first act they even had me mosh pitting. It was a great way to kick off the show and bump up the energy.
The concert did not go as well as I planned though. Going into this concert I wasn't expecting the crowd to be violent, rowdy, and highly inconsiderate to everyone around them. Originally my friend and I were standing in the front right by the stage. By the third act I had to walk off because there was a fight literally between each act. At this point my mood was dampened; it was hot and I was ready to go home. I figured since I spent enough money on this night I might as well stay and enjoy the rest of the show.
When it was finally the moment I had been waiting all day for all of those bad feelings left me. They finally announced that MGK was up next. Nothing that had happened before mattered I just needed to see him preform. From the moment he hit the stage, he dominated the crowd. He started out with one of his newer songs "EST 4 life". It was a great way to get the crowd pumped up. About two songs into the show a very unwelcoming audience member decided to yell some hateful words to MGK. I was upset by this just because I didn't pay money to see my idol get trashed by some inconsiderate person. MGK addressed the audience member and basically told him if you have an issue with me being up here you can get out. After this incident the show went on. He performed all of my favorite songs, including his cover of Blink 182's "What's My Age Again?" I think MGK chose his set list wisely and it was a perfect mixture of his party music and his emotional music.
MGK gave me exactly what I was expecting from his show. He gave me crowd surfing, climbing on things he most definitely shouldn't have, and he was half naked less than half way through his set. That guy can put on a show that will keep you entertained through the entire thing. There was not one single boring section and he interacted very well with his audience. At one point in the show he even brought a girl on stage to assist him in undressing. He is a certified crowd pleaser. By the end of his act he had the whole crowd yelling his legendary chant "Lace Up". MGK made me proud to say I'm one of his "EST soldiers". I would definitely attend another one of his shows if given the opportunity. If you are ever given a chance to see MGK in concert I would definitely say you should go. It was a great experience for me and I would do it all over again if I could.