Editor’s Note: This article first appeared as part of the October 5th flipbook. 

Intimidatingly bright and aggressively powerful fireworks blast through the set’s center as the first beats of opener “CORSO” blare through the speakers at Tyler, The Creator’s Sunday night Ladybird stage ACL headliner performance.  

Aesthetically, the singer nailed every aspect, but what started as an engaging and entertaining show quickly declined.

From his fresh fit — a blue and green button down, khaki shorts, black loafers with white lace crew socks and a green ball cap reading “F*” — to his “Call Me If You Get Lost” themed set, photos from the performance will show an artistically crafted color scheme and design. Except the stage’s vastness swallowed the artist whole. If he performed on a smaller frame, the audience engagement would increase from a 3/10 to a 10/10.

Even when fan favorites such as “Sugar” and “WUSYANAME” raged, full of Earth-shaking jumps and accompanying lights, the rapper practically forced participation, and the amount of people walking away from the area — as if their wristband caused them some kind of financial obligation to show up to Tyler — outnumbered those singing in unison.

Unfortunately, the highly-anticipated production fell short, especially when the artist appeared tired and out of breath. Compared to other headliner acts, fatigue doesn’t cut it. The most impressive part of the show lies in the pyrotechnics. Between the fire rain wall in “EARFQUAKE” and the massive flames burning throughout the act, eyes couldn’t be pulled away … for those few seconds. Otherwise, fans — old and new — left early and unsatisfied.