Forty-five minutes before Travis Scott took the stage Thursday at a sold-out Eagles Ballroom at the Rave, hundreds of fans were aggressively barking his name.

That amped up energy, well before the first song, likely made the small army of security guards sweat, especially given the rapper and singer's reputation for wild shows. Just this past Saturday, Scott was arrested in Rogers, Ark., charged with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct and endangering the welfare of a minor for allegedly encouraging fans to rush the stage. In 2015, his Lollapalooza set was shut down early for the same reason.

Security and the showman made sure the chaos stayed in check Thursday, although fan reaction to Scott's hourlong set was among the most intense displays I've seen at a hip-hop show. No wonder Kendrick Lamar booked Scott for his summer arena tour, although if I were Kung-Fu Kenny, I'd be a little worried about being upstaged.

Scott (25-year-old Jacques Webster Jr. from Houston) merges the melodic, edgy, at times arty stylings of Kanye West with the kind of chest-rattling trap that's taken over Atlanta. The songs are such bangers, Scott got away with largely snippets Thursday, the first few seconds of "Mamacita" and the brand-new "Butterfly Effect" bringing the leaping, screaming crowd — essentially every person on the floor, and many in the balcony — to a rapid boil early in the hour.

Scott and the fans still dialed up the heat from there. No doubt under legal counsel, Scott didn't directly encourage stage-rushing, but he didn't discourage it either. When one crowd surfer got within striking distance from the stage during "Don't Play," an excited Scott reached out to give him a high five. Another kid actually got on the stage for "Sweet Sweet;" after a burly security guard scared him off, Scott made sure to sing the next verse to the stage crasher riding atop the crowd.

And when a fan in the pit climbed on top of a friend's shoulder at the start of "Upper Echelon," Scott told security to stay back, the guy diving back down into the crowd in sync with the bass drop to the cheers of hundreds of leaping fans.

Scott also snapped at his lighting guy to keep the room lighted so he could better see the fans' excitement; possibly a staged bit, the line nevertheless illustrated Scott's connection with the crowd. And for "Pick Up the Phone," Scott came out into the middle of the floor, sitting atop a security guard's shoulders while he dropped a couple verses. His stage presence was like a powerful magnet, dragging smashed bodies closer, and prompting Scott to cut off the DJ before things got out of hand.

The kinetic songs and Scott's winning fan interaction were enough to exceed high expectations, but Scott spared no expense on an unnecessary but impressive giant mechanical falcon set piece, which busted out of its cage for "Antidote" and thumping finale "Goosebumps."

Scott, and the falcon, will be back at the Eagles Ballroom May 26 for a second sold-out show.

Keep an Eye on Khalid

When your songs are about being "Young, dumb and broke" and "Doing all the (expletive) that young kids do," you automatically sacrifice longevity. It'd be hard to imagine their singer and songwriter, 19-year-old El Paso, Texas native Khalid, belting out those tunes 20 years from now.

But if he broadens the lyrics, Khalid could have staying power and wider reach. He'll be singing this year's breakout single "Location" for a while (so long as "subtweets" has meaning in the vernacular). It was marked live Thursday by Khalid's quiet yet confident voice. And while Khalid's between-song banter was boring Thursday, he displayed a winning "dance like you don't care" attitude during the Afrobeat-electonica fusion of "Another Sad Love Song."



The VIPs in the Balcony

No, Travis Scott's girlfriend Kylie Jenner and her squad weren't at the show Thursday. But sitting in the balcony were Milwaukee Bucks Jabari Parker and Thon Maker. A large crowd noticed the NBA stars immediately after the show ended, and Parker, no doubt in a great mood after Scott's show, made it rain cash off the balcony, prompting a massive sing-a-long chant of "Bucks in six/Bucks in six."

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Piet talks about concerts, local music and more on "TAP'd In" with Jordan Lee, 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9).