Off the momentum of More Chaos—Ken Carson’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200—he’s announced his biggest tour yet. The Lord of Chaos tour kicks off in late July and runs through September with 29 stops, including headlining arenas like Barclays Center, State Farm Arena, and even the legendary Red Rocks. It’s a clear step up from the 3-6k-cap rooms he packed out in 2024, and the energy’s only gotten wilder.
If you’ve ever seen Ken Carson live, you already know why this matters. If you haven’t—this list is your warning. We’ve ranked his five best performances to date, breaking down exactly how he’s evolved into an unforgettable performer deserving of such a Lord of Chaos title. From viral fan interactions to mosh pits and crazy openers, these shows prove what you can expect when he hits your city.
The ticket presale begins on April 30 at 10:00 a.m. local time, using the code “DANCE” at this link. General on-sale starts May 2 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
5. Dallas 2021 CHAOS Tour
Ken’s Dallas show in 2021, part of his CHAOS tour, wasn’t just early—it was electric. This stop marked one of the first times he shut down a venue with his own headlining show, setting the tone for what a Ken Carson live experience would feel like.
The venue was small, dark, and packed wall-to-wall with fans dressed in black, already tuned in to the sound and aesthetic that would later define his big festival appearances. There weren’t massive LED screens or pyro—just Ken, a mic, and a crowd ready to lose it.
He ran early tracks like “Teen Bean,” “High as Sh!t,” “Yale,” and “Run + Ran. The Dallas show revealed the blueprint that would become his signature—big openers and sets that never let up, with the crowd energy feeding into the music like a feedback loop. That’s why this show lands at #5 on our list. It didn’t just show the potential of a Ken Carson performance—it introduced the formula.
4. Rolling Loud Miami 2024
Hitting the main stage right before Lil Baby and Playboi Carti, Ken’s set marked a major milestone in his career. The second the “SS” beat began blasting through the speakers, the entire crowd erupted, and the intro was later dubbed one of his best by fans on TikTok.
Sticking to his now-signature formula, Ken loaded the front half of his set with heat—“Freestyle 3,” “It’s Over,” “Lose It,” “mewtwo”—keeping the energy maxed out from the jump. There were no slow moments, no pauses to catch your breath. Just chaos, all the way through. His ability to hold down that massive stage on his own, command a crowd that size, and still make it feel intimate in the way rage music does is what makes him a must-see performer.
Rolling Loud Miami wasn’t just a big show—it was a statement. Ken proved he’s not just riding the wave Carti created, but he’s carved out his own lane. That’s why this performance lands at #4 on our list. It set the tone for his next tour and signaled to everyone watching: Ken’s no longer next up. He’s here.
3. Coachella 2024
Ken brought A Great Chaos energy to Coachella 2024, and not everybody was ready for it. He kicked off his set with the live debut of “Overseas”—a track fans had been begging for since he teased it on IG Live back in December 2023. It dropped the day before, and Ken wasted no time making a moment out of it.
If you know Ken, you know he doesn’t wait to build hype—he starts with it. Instead of saving fan-faves for the end, he dives straight in. After “Overseas,” he ran through “Freestyle 2” and “Lose It,” then chaos officially erupted during “Hardcore.”
Mid-mosh, Ken looked out at the flower crown-wearing Lana Del Rey fans in the crowd and said, “If you’re scared, you should’ve stayed the fuck home.” That clip went viral and pretty much locked in his Lord of Chaos status.
He kept that same “open that shit up” energy through “Me N My Kup” and “Yale,” and closed out with “Fighting My Demons.” It was one of his most memorable performances, owning a big stage at a mainstream festival that doesn’t predominantly cater to rap fans, and that’s why it lands at #3 on our list.
2. The Smoker’s Club Festival 2022
Before Ken was packing out the main stage at Rolling Loud, he was building the foundation at The Smoker’s Club festival in 2022—and the real ones remember. This set wasn’t about production or polish. It was raw, loud, and pure rage. Ken hit the stage with early standouts like “Teenage Rager,” “Clutch,” and “Rock N Roll,” and the fans who pulled up weren’t just there to kill time between bigger names.
At that point, he’d only dropped his debut EP, Teen X, and debut studio album, Project X, and still had the crowd going crazy off the strength of a minimal discography. The performance was early proof that he was built for this, foreshadowing his later success.
This performance was a moment for those who were tapped in before the headlining slot and mainstream co-signs. There’s a nostalgia to it now, looking back and realizing how far he’s come, but in that moment, it was all about the music and the mayhem. That’s why his set at Smoker’s Club 2022 lands at #2 on our list—because every headliner has that one performance where everything started to click, and for Ken, this was it.
1. Rolling Loud California 2025
Ken’s set at Rolling Loud California this year was the chaos anthem come to life—and it earns the #1 spot on our list for a reason. Even though he used “SS” as his opener at Rolling Loud Miami just a few months earlier, the crowd still went feral. Security had to stop the set multiple times just to get things under control. A few years ago, that kind of reaction was Carti-only territory. Now? It’s Ken’s stage, too.
The performance felt like a preview of his upcoming Lord of Chaos tour—bigger, louder, more unhinged than anything he’s done before. He ran through a stacked setlist, blending older rage classics like “Overseas,” “Freestyle 2,” and “Freestyle 3” with newer cuts like “leather jacket” and “toxic.”
Social media lit up instantly. One fan even went viral on TikTok for finding someone’s phone in the pit, recording the opening track, and returning it to lost and found—with full commentary, of course. That moment summed it up: the chaos, the connection, the community. This wasn’t just Ken’s best performance—it was his biggest, and the clearest sign yet of what fans can expect on tour.
