Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival 2023 is exactly as its father, Tyler, The Creator, explained during his set over this past weekend: the spirit of Los Angeles in two days. Dodger Stadium became a playground of approximately 56,000 music nerds’ on November 11 and 12, and was the Odd Future creative’s first edition of the concert and ride extravaganza since 2019, following a couple of years off due to COVID.
Now that it’s over, in all of its sun-drenched, expensive, passionate, grueling, talented, chaotic, diverse, and above all, fun glory, what was the best from CFG? And, is it worth attending next year? Tyler’s brainchild is up there with the best in the world when it comes to its hits and misses. The lines were eternal (especially for merch), pricing was quite steep, and there could’ve been fewer “fake fans” in attendance. Still, these definitely weren’t as bad as every other major fest. These issues haunt everything from the biggest of stages to the most humble multi-artist lineup. However, if you’re like me and you wouldn’t rather do anything else on a weekend, then you’re in luck.
I obviously didn’t get to see even close to the amount of acts I would’ve wanted. Some I caught the whole way, and others I saw from afar, making a line for some pork buns or on my way from one stage to another. I’m sure that Balming Tiger, d4vd, Liv.e, Domo Genesis, beabadoobee, Fuerza Regida, SPINALL, Khamari, DAISY WORLD, Toro y Moi, and many, many others put on amazing shows which I, unfortunately, couldn’t make it to. Below, we’ve ranked the top five sets we got to see, along with some honorable mentions.
The Hillbillies (Kendrick Lamar & Baby Keem)
Might as well start with the big dogs, right? There were plenty of huge names on the lineup this year in addition to those already mentioned. Lil Yachty brought out Offset, WILLOW performed with her brother Jaden Smith during her excellent sunset show, and The Hillbillies tapped Tyler, The Creator to join them onstage for their self-titled track’s performance. It’s fitting that we start here because the music video for Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem’s 2023 single launched this year’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival back in June. Now that we finally made it, it’s no surprise that they closed off Saturday expertly across 24 tracks and alternating sets with spoken-word interludes. It was another masterclass in crowd control, mood shifts, lyrical performance, and dedication. As such, The Hillbillies is this year’s standout experience from CFG’s top-tier mainstream performers. Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem showed everyone how it’s done.
For every few bangers, like their opener “family ties,” there was a cool-down moment like Kendrick’s “A.D.H.D.” and Keem’s “HONEST.” Their chemistry was evident, too, as they hyped each other up for their collaborative cuts and knew exactly how to play off of each other’s energy when they switched out onstage. Furthermore, this is what separated this performance from The Big Steppers tour, and showed another dimension to their already legendary reputation.
Next up is Kevin Abstract, the former BROCKHAMPTON main brain who was one of many genre blenders this weekend. The ARIZONA BABY artist was also one of a few with brand-new projects to unveil in a concert setting. Sure, it wasn’t the sharpest or most fine-tuned, but it crystallized something more important beneath those fluorescent lights.
Kevin Abstract clearly cared a lot about his first solo performance in about six years. His performance, vocally and demeanor-wise, was very raw, grateful, unfiltered, and fully sunken into the vibes that he and his band created onstage. He played killer tracks like “Madonna” and “What Should I Do?” off of his new album Blanket and revisited fan favorites like “Baby Boy” and “Empty.” The cherry on top was that he revamped these tracks to fit his new, shoegaze-like style. While many artists played their hits or stuck to their most popular sounds, the 27-year-old fearlessly dove into a new era, and crafted a gear-shifting and deeply personal moment in his career for old and new listeners.