Go Media’s hip-hop station, Go 95.3, hosted their first day-long “Big Fancy Go Show” featuring local acts Nate Millyunz, Gaines FM, Free Wifi, Mac Irv, Finding Novyon, and Bobby Raps, alongside Blackbear, Vince Staples, and headliner, Wiz Khalifa.
The festivities took place at Fine Line’s outdoor space, set up similarly to Pizza Luce’s Block Party. Early highlights included Free Wifi’s dynamic performance, a guest appearance from Dwynell Roland, and DJ Mr. Peter Parker’s three year-old daughter free styling in between sets- watch the adorably hilarious video here.
Florida native, Blackbear, was the first national act to take the stage. The 26 year old has written and produced for the likes of Justin Bieber, Mike Posner, and Machine Gun Kelly before breaking through to the mainstream hip-hop scene with his latest LP, Digital Druglord. He had a brief five-song set, including “idfc,” and “Wanderlust” before closing with his viral hit, “do re mi,” all featuring his signature autotuned vocals. The crowd was somewhat tame throughout his set but rumored girlfriend, Bella Thorne, seemed to be impressed while jamming in front of the stage-left barricade.
Def Jam artist, Vince Staples, took it up a notch with his impressive rhyme schemes. A majority of his set was composed of songs from his new album, Big Fish Theory, released in June. The crowd responded positively to popular tracks “BagBak,” “Yeah Right,” “Big Fish,” and “Norf Norf,” with a few die-hard fans in the front row rapping along to every word. Vince Staples’ tour hits Europe before coming back to North America for Bumbershoot, Red Truck Brewery, and Life is Beautiful festivals. Find tickets here.
Headliner Wiz Khalifa, surrounded by an ample Taylor Gang entourage, “hit the stage” with a joint in hand and dove straight in to his song “Bake Sale.” He continued with a string of hits old and new, performing “Sucker For Pain” from the Suicide Squad Soundtrack, “See You Again” from the Fast and Furious franchise and now the most viewed video on youtube, unintentional Pittsburgh anthem, “Black And Yellow,” “We Dem Boyz,” the nostalgic “Young, Wild & Free,” among many more. An avid and outspoken marijuana enthusiast, Khalifa threw large inflatable joints for the crowd to bounce around- why settle for balloons or beach balls when you can promote your collaboration with RAW. His energy was incredible and despite being visibly heavily under the influence, he nailed his performance and closed out the show with a bang.
All in all the day was a mixed bag. The performances were solid but ill-prepared fans were being taken away by ambulance due to dehydration as early as 4 PM- an hour after doors. The venue wasn’t much help as they allowed refillable water bottles but didn’t provide any refill stations on-site. With a little more planning and damage control the #BFGS could be a complete success in the future.
