Twitter Reacts To Travis Scott's Fortnite Concert
Last night brought a trippy show to players of Fortnite. Launching out of a meteor and right into a shockwave, Rapper Travis Scott took the virtual stage in gargantuan form and performed some new songs and fan favorite tracks. The result was a trippy light show that The Verge's Andrew Webster called "surreal and spectacular," noting that "it was the kind of experience that could only exist in a virtual space like this."
Even more impressive was the fact that the concert set a record for the most concurrent players in Fortnite history. According to the official Fortnite Twitter account, over 12.3 million Fortnite fans took part in the virtual shindig. With those kind of numbers, it's no surprise that the response on social media was incredibly vocal.
One Twitter user shared screenshots from the event, writing, "This event has to be the best event yet."
Streamer Nick Eh 30 posted video of himself enjoying the show. In the clip, he can be seen laughing in delight. His caption reads, "No video game will ever top this—Fortnite x Travis Scott concert!"
Another fan was freaking out over the fact that the old version of Fortnite's map could be seen in the background of Scott's show. This user excitedly theorized that the concert was a bit of sly marketing on Epic Games' part, and that the old map could be making a comeback in the near future.
The number of players who tuned in for the concert is even more impressive when you consider that this performance is just the first of several. With four encore performances scheduled for various time zones, the Fortnite "Astronomical" show is being positioned as a virtual tour of sorts.
For his own part, Travis Scott was over the moon in regards to the concert. Scott tweeted a heartfelt and excited thank you to his fans, which read, "Honestly today was one of the most inspiring days. Love every single one of u guys. And i know times are weird for us. But for one moment to be able to have the ragers to rage where ever you are is amazing. Love u guys with all my body."
Fortnite certainly isn't new to featuring interesting collaborations with musical artists. Early 2019 brought fans the interesting one-two punch of events from Weezer and Marshmello. In February, as a promotional event for Weezer's upcoming release of The Black Album, a new island was added to Fortnite that featured Weezer's logo and several mini-games scattered around the area. The whole thing was modeled after an amusement park and gamers could hear tracks off of The Black Album while they played.
While the Weezer island was more of a fun curiosity, it was the Marshmello concert in March 2019 that really changed the game. It marked the first live virtual concert to be held within Fortnite and drew in a record-smashing crowd of 10 million concurrent players. The whole thing was super positive experience for the folks who attended, with Epic ensuring everyone had a chill time by disabling weapons for the duration of Marshmello's set. Of course, that concert's record number of viewers has since been exceeded by the Travis Scott "Astronomical" show.
It looks as though that laid back feeling translated to the Travis Scott show as well. One of the best things about seeing the Twitter reactions to the virtual Travis Scott concert might actually be how positive people are regarding the whole thing. The majority of the responses are from fans who greatly enjoyed the spectacle. Even the folks making memes out of it seem to have had a great time with the concert.
Speaking of which, there were quite a few memes and lighthearted jokes inspired the show that are worth a chuckle. One of these hilariously compared the Marshmello concert to the "Astronomical" experience:
You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about#Fortnite #TravisScottFortnite pic.twitter.com/6gbWbXS5ul
— ‎༺ناتاشا༻ (@itsxnatashaa) April 24, 2020
Another one parodied the kinds of "missed connections" that can occur when you meet someone cool at a concert and forget to exchange information:
met this girl at the Travis Scott Fortnite concert and didn’t get her number. twitter do your thing pic.twitter.com/GyfIk1fGnC
— CLARK KEY (@ClarkKeyMusic) April 24, 2020
There were also a few posts from folks who found the experience to be fun, but slightly overwhelming. Streamer Gubba shared a clip of herself at the concert and was shocked when Travis Scott's gigantic form bounded into the arena and sent her flying way away from the stage. It's a very funny moment and it should be noted that she still seemed very entertained, albeit kind of bewildered by the whole thing.
Hopefully these positive responses will encourage Epic to put together another cool concert in the near future.