CHICAGO, IL—Imagine a 95-year-old bare bones venue with uneven flooring, a few hundred bright blue theater seats and around a thousand or so young people, and you have the setting for last night’s (December 27) Oreo Fest.
The show was Chicago through and through—Oreo was Save Money’s DJ—and Portage Theater is one of the city’s oldest movie houses; its historic Windy City charm lends itself to Oreo Fest’s for Chicago, by Chicago nature.
Each act was given a five-minute set, and while the transitions were rocky in the beginning, the fest began to run more smoothly as the night progressed. Oreo gave a shout out to King L early on—Louie was shot in the head last week and is currently recovering — while playing the rapper’s classic “Michael Jordan.” After that, the performances only got better and we saw the highlights of the night; the Chicago lineup performed what everyone wanted to hear.
Save Money rapper Towkio graced the stage and sang “Heaven Only Knows,” and Sicko Mobb popped out to the audience’s uproar. Dancers on stage began juking and battling as Chicago house blared over the speakers, and some in the crowd mimicked them, having their own battles in the pit. ZMoney languidly spit “Want My Money (Remix),” Saba came out for “TimeZone,” and Katie Got Bandz performed her Louie-supported song “Pop Out.” Leather Corduroys played “Irie Trill Vibes,” the famed Save Money chant acting as part of the chorus.
Metro Boomin finally took the stage to the ever-so appropriate “Thought There Was A Drought,” asking for the hoards of people on stage to vacate so the show could go on. But when Lil Durk appeared, all the people who had left the stage—and more—returned. Policemen flanked the rapper as he performed “Bang Bros,” and Oreo stood up for Durk.
“Everyone tries to paint [Durk] as a bad individual,” Oreo commented. “But this man takes care of his children and his family.” Durk nodded his head and the audience screamed in agreement.
“Oreo Fest is about unity, love, and all these people of different races and ages coming together,” Oreo continued. Indeed, the show allowed many different Chicagoans to come together for one reason. Before the house lights came on, Metro suitably closed the show with Chief Keef’s “Faneto.”