MAGIC with big names: ComplexCon draws 60K visitors in Las Vegas
Somewhere between the ‘64 Impala low rider at the Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg Gin & Juice booth and Travis Scott’s Cactus Colosseum rounded, caged soccer facility, it hit me.
This is MAGIC, but with major headliners.
MAGIC is the retail apparel convention that has landed in Las Vegas every year since ’89. This is a veritable sea of suits. Similarly, ComplexCon took over all of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall on Saturday and Sunday.
The MAGIC influence tracks if you know that Aaron Levant, ComplexCon’s founder and CEO of Complex Networks, visited MAGIC in the late 1990s and came away inspired.
The Las Vegas ComplexCon event drew such headliners as Travis Scott, the event’s artistic director, who also presented his Cactus Jack fashion line in the first CactusCon activation; Playboi Carti, Metro Boomin and Opium. Those stars played the refashioned convention center’s live-music venue.
The event drew approximately 60,o00 attendees and covered more than 1 million square feet, presenting about 300 worldwide brands, 750 international artists and a Family Style Food Festival with offerings selected by onetime Las Vegan food influencer Keith Lee.
On Monday, ComplexCon announced it would be back Oct. 25-26, with Daniel Arsham as its 2025 Global Artistic Director. Arsham is also leading the event’s return to Hong Kong from March 21-23.
Having opened in Long Beach in 2016, the event was held for the first time in Las Vegas and is under agreement for at least two more years at the Convention Center.
A breakdown of what went down, assist from the ComplexCon crew:
Sunday
— Scott brought WWE superstar Triple H on stage and was gifted the Hardcore championship belt, while announcing an appearance on the first “Raw” on Netflix, Jan. 6 in L.A.
— IShowSpeed, star streamer, joined a special episode of “360 with Speedy,” hosted by Speedy Morman. He was later gifted an exclusive Ronaldo Jacob & Co. Epic x Heart of CR7 watch worth $29,000 at his Secreto Maximus soccer tournament.
— WWE champion Cody Rhodes sat with reality TV star West Wilson and revealed his top three heroes: Sting, Tom Brady and Prince.
— Faze Banks and Plaqueboymax debated the “GOAT” Playboi Carti song during a live episode of “GOAT Talk.”
— Michèle Lamy was spotted serving her look at the Rick Owens booth before to the Family Style Food Festival.
— Lil Yachty presented fans with a signed pair of Concrete Boys Forces on the show floor.
Complex’s Noah Callahan-Bever sat with street-wear innovator Angelo Baque for a special live taping of “Idea Generation.”
Saturday
— Scott met with fans on the exhibition floor at his CactusCon. The experience brought together more than 35 exclusive collaborations and installations with influential designers, artists and brands.
— Playboi Carti headlined the festival’s first night, joined by Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely, with an opening performance by Metro Boomin, Offset and Airsoft Fatty.
— Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg appeared in a taping of “Drink Champs” with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN where they previewed unreleased music.
— Ken Carson and Joe La Puma did a special episode of “Sneaker Shopping” on the show floor.
— The Sneaker of the Year panel, renamed in honor of the late DJ Clark Kent, crowned the Adidas AE1 as the top sneaker of 2024, while PJ Tucker and Lil Yachty shared near-miss stories about the Nike Wu-Tang Dunks.
— WNBA Chicago Sky star Angel Reese joined a special episode of “360 with Speedy.”
— Lee and artist Tobe Nwigwe teamed at the Family Style Food Festival, trying out their top picks like Trill Burgers and Shang Artisan Noodle.
— Scott and Nike hosted the Secreto Maximus Tournament, a high-stakes private soccer match at the Cactus Colosseum, featuring Steve Nash and a roster of top athletes.
— FaZe Banks, Plaqueboymax, Ronaldo and Lacy stopped by the Opium booth for exclusive merch.
— Lil Yachty surprised attendees with an impromptu DJ set at Greg Yuna’s booth.
— FaZe Clan joined Complex’s Jordan Rose to discuss the toll streaming takes on their crew.
The Zouk scene
Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World bounced throughout the event as the resort was the official hotel partner throughout the weekend. Chase B headlined the Thursday opening party. The thrilling entertainment continued Friday with NAV taking the Zouk stage for the first time, premiering Tap” and “Never Sleep.”
Celebrating his upcoming new album “On My Way 2 Rexdale,” the rapper had a custom NAV slot machine display in front of RedTail for fans to interact with and receive QR code tickets to listen to snippets of the new album.
On Saturday night, Lil Yachty unleashed “One Night” and “A Cold Sunday.” Late Sunday it was Scott and DJ Patrick Cornett after ComplexCon had shut down. Scott performed his hits, including “FE!N,” “No Bystanders” and “Antidote.” The superstar also surprised the crowd with a snippet of an unreleased track.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.