Ken Carson - “xperimenting tour"

Written By Josh Rush

Photos by Josh Rush & Diego Cotal

Carson’s fans brought the heat to Texas! Thousands of fans dressed in lab coats, Rick Owens and sunglasses entered the Moody Center in Austin, TX, for Ken Carson’s “xperiment tour.” Prettifun and xaviersobased set the tone for the night. Prettifun took the stage while vibrant purple lights flickered behind the 21-year-old rapper. Xaviersobased did his signature dance while rocking a red hoodie, a vintage black ECKO sling bag with red accents and red Vans Old Skools.

The 26-year-old rap superstar emerged to a smoky haze before fire lit up behind him and “deaf note” blasted from the speakers. A group of three sitting in front of me sang each one of Carson’s songs without losing their breath while concurrently recording the Opium artist jumping up and down on the stage. “I’m not Drake, I’m not Future, but I’m On One,” Carson yelled into the mic while performing “LiveLeak.” 

As the night went on the energy in the pit continued to build and I decided to pull out my phone to record the chaos. I zoomed in and saw a group of teenage boys dressed as bananas and someone with a flare gun. “If you’re having the time of your life right now, say hell yeah,” Carson said during one of the only breaks, performing 28 songs. 

Red lights flickered from the stage and “Fighting My Demons,” from Carson's third studio album, “A Great Chaos,” was being sung by the sea of fans before Carson brought a fan dressed in a lab coat to perform the hit song. “I just (expletive) performed Fighting My Demons in (expletive) Austin, bro,” the fan said on TikTok as I scrolled my For You Page back at home.