A$AP Rocky, Lindsey Stirling, Hanson and Shawn Mendes @ The Forbes Under 30 Summit at Festival Pier.
Text by Holli Stephens. Images by Brianna Spause.
The Forbes Under 30 Summit returned to Philadelphia for its second year on Tuesday, with pristine conditions for an outdoor concert.
Festival Pier was filled with an audience of all ages for a music festival that would bring this year’s three-day summit to a close. Attendees all had one goal in common – to end extreme global poverty by 2030. Forbes and Global Citizen have had a partnership since 2013 and created “The Global Poverty Project” to bring big name artists under 30 years of age together under one roof.
Tween girls screamed as the stage grew dim and Shawn Mendes sauntered to the front. A flood light illuminated him and his guitar as he started off the night with “Something Big.” The 17-year old Canadian singer-songwriter remained extremely calm amongst the midst of “I love you Shawn” crowd outbursts and even jokingly applauded “the deep men voices” that sang along as he played through another song, “Life of the Party.”
“You guys having a good time in Philadelphia tonight?” he asked.
Hanson was all smiles as they took up their designated instruments and played through a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher.” With more than two decades of experience playing together, the brothers were able to seamlessly transition from song to song. In a live venue, “This Time Around” turned into funky rendition of solo guitar and piano riffs alike. To end, Hanson covered Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” as the crowd began to simultaneously sway to the beat.
Murmurs grew into chants of “Lindsey Stirling!” as the stage grew dim once more and the petite violinist ascended the stage. Dressed in a purple ruffle skirt paired with glittery tights, she gave off a fairy-like appearance as she twirled and bounded across the stage. Even so, the accuracy and consistency in her sound remained firm.
“We’ve been touring for a month and a half. This is my high,” Stirling said as “Crystallize,” the song that boosted her popularity began. The video for the song has been viewed more than 130 million times on YouTube.
The dubstep inspired drops and quick arpeggios made it a spectacle to see performed live. Stirling made herself vulnerable to her audience as she talked about our own selves being the biggest obstacle to overcome when trying to succeed in life. A very electronic inspired rendition of various “Phantom of the Opera” songs ended Stirling’s set, including “Angel of Music” and “Think of Me.”
Headliner, A$AP Rocky’s set was marred and shortened by technical difficulties and the notorious Philadelphia 11:00 sound ordinance. When the rapper finally seemed confident with sound quality, he bounded out with A$AP Mob’s “Hella Hoes.” Clad in a cream-colored pea coat and his notorious intricate braids, Rocky was able to keep the crowd’s enthusiasm up despite a voice that sounded raspy and faded. Rocky tried to go through his biggest hits like “Goldie,” “Wild for the Night” and “Shabba” before leaving the stage.
This did not sit well with the crowd. He then asked them what they wanted to hear and in an abstruse medley of screams the rapper ended the night off with “L$D.”
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 
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