“You better start chugging water the second you get inside,” warned a security guard before my entrance into San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for musician Ken Carson’s tour, xperimenting.
Carson’s reach is deep and narrow — dripped out in Bape hoodies, the audience was full of hardcore moshers and living proof of San Francisco’s notorious teenager problem. In the pit, arms reached to and fro in communion as Geek Bars and blunts weaved their way throughout the crowd. The line outside spiraled around the block twice, complete with dedicated fans humming Carson’s “Me N My Kup” under their breath.
Ahead of Carson’s emergence onto the Bill Graham stage, opener DJ Moon’s live set warmed up the crowd with rage rap classics such as “Rather Lie” and Playboi Carti’s “Sky” to which the crowd churned. The latter track specifically invoked my favorite eavesdrop of the night, as I heard a middle schooler spit through his braces,“I might not make it to Ken!” in complete worry and seriousness.
Oh, but we did.
Carson’s whopping 29-song setlist primarily drew from his fifth studio album Xperiment as well as the critically acclaimed 2024 release, A Great Chaos. Throughout Carson’s career, he has made little effort to reorient his sound from the signature chaos and aggression that primarily defined his career. But honestly, who can blame him? Across all five albums, Carson has crafted an incredible cloud rap and experimental internet sound. Each one to two minute-track features a different assortment of punk rock influence, including deep bass and heavy synthesizer lines. And the mosh went crazy. Every. Single. Time.
The introductory notes to opener “Deaf Note” immediately sent a shockwave through the crowd, as Carson’s warbly hooks pierced through the auditorium, his aggression increasing with each line. A projected sign reading “This is the xperiment” gleamed on the stage’s backdrop, looking as if the text were crafted with diamonds. Carson largely existed as a silhouette throughout the show, the audience only able to see his dark shadow amid the flashing lights and colorful visuals. Carson’s performance of “Lord of Chaos” further proved that Carson rightfully owns the moniker from which the track takes its name. As fuzzy synth-guitar stabs and static chords fueled the crowd’s energy, booming 808s rattled from the speakers, hardly holding their own.
Carson’s xperimenting tour did not account for breaks.
Right as one song began to fade out, a buzzy beat drop immediately followed, sending the audience directly back into a whirlwind of packed bodies, gasping for air. It was during the second chorus of “Mewtwo” in which I realized my shoes were untied and began to legitimately fear for my life.
The physics of Carson’s mosh pits were quite incredible — every concertgoer remained at rest until acted upon by a 6-foot-4 white guy in an Opium hoodie screaming “Open it up!” Each action had an equal and opposite reaction: The catchy hooks of “Yale” and “SS” resulted in screaming chants and chaotic dancing. Yet, the mosh pit often acted in harmonious disorder with each and every beat drop or switch. Complete with flamethrowers standing on either side of the stage, the pyrotechnics added to the already chaotic energy of the night.
In all, my night at Ken Carson’s xperimenting tour may have left me drenched in at least 200 gallons of other people’s sweat and my phone full of shaky, unintelligible videos that beg for a camera stabilizer of any kind, yet in my opinion, that’s the appeal. Carson isn’t interested in pristine vocals or polished stage banter — he’s selling controlled chaos. For 90 relentless minutes, hundreds of concertgoers happily bought in. As I stumbled out of the auditorium immediately reaching for my water bottle, I realized that Carson’s show wasn’t just a concert — it was an endurance test. Thankfully, I survived.