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Photo Credit - Maxwell Thomason
Our second ever show, "The Poster Child CNCRT," was a milestone for CNCRT, celebrating not just our brand’s 1-year anniversary, but also the anniversary of Ausar’s incredible album “I NOW KNOW.” and the wins that came from it. The event took place on September 29th, 2024, at Subterranean in downtown Chicago. This show felt like the culmination of months of planning, creativity, and collaboration—and it ended up being our best show yet.
Planning this event with Ausar was a journey that started almost a year ago. After meeting at our first community event on September 30th, 2023, we talked about Ausar potentially performing at our January show, The Blueprint CNCRT. But due to a family emergency, Ausar couldn’t perform then, so we agreed to find the right time to work together again. It wasn’t until April or May of this year that we really sat down and started brainstorming. From that point, it took months of trial and error, planning, and adapting to bring this vision to life. It was so worth it.
After hosting some successful studio lock-in events together, we found ourselves locking in the perfect venue—Subterranean. The fact that the venue was available on the weekend of our brand’s 1-year anniversary felt like everything was aligning just right. From there, it was all about building the perfect rollout to pack the place.
We rented out a location called the “Sandwich Opera House”, a beautiful theater in Sandwich, IL, for content creation. The space was everything we needed—the red curtains, stage lighting, and overall vibe matched the theme of Ausar’s album and gave us the perfect environment to shoot. We created a blend of clean, professional content with a bit of Ausar’s personality shining through in the skits. The result was a mix of humor and art that we knew would resonate with his audience. We shot three performance videos—two from his album and one featuring a new track he’s ready to release soon—and released these alongside teaser photos and graphics in the lead-up to the show.
When showtime hit, the energy in the room was unmatched. The crowd started filling in by the time Ausar took the stage around 7:30. We ended up having about 175 people packed into the venue on the night, including the balcony space that overlooks the stage. The crowd was lively, with everyone singing along to Ausar’s songs word for word, and it was clear this was going to be a night to remember everywhere you looked. The set itself was something special. We stayed true to the CNCRT aesthetic—red danger tape, concrete blocks, and construction light stands. But we tried to connect it to Ausar by adding small trophies scattered across the stage. Ausar was able to elevate his set even more by reimagining his album with live instruments and backup vocalists. It was an entirely different experience from the studio recordings, and with the best sound engineer in Chicago Ro Moore running sound for us, people truly felt it in the room.
On top of all of this, Ausar brought out some of his featured artists from the album. Senite, Elijah LeFlore, Josi Green, and Tri Nohbi were all able to join Ausar for their songs on stage, and even though some of the other artists couldn’t make it, Ausar made sure to share special audio messages from Chris Patrick, Dende, and Deante Hitchcock. The connections were real, and it was a true celebration of collaboration.
One of the best parts of the night was the merch table on the balcony. We sold exclusive show merch, CNCRT merch, and Ausar had his own “Don’t Date Rappers” hats for sale as well. After the show, Ausar and myself went to the merch table to connect with fans and friends that came out to support. Ausar started signing autographs and we completely SOLD OUT of the exclusive show merch t-shirts by the end of the night!
Our media team, as always, was all over it. Shoutout to our photographers Melissa Farias and Maxwell Thomason, as well as our videographers Allen Linquist, Joe Bracero, Nick Miesuk, and Carter Maggio who captured the night from every angle and created some of the best content we’ve seen so far. The images and video they put together for the recap that Carter Maggio edited together really helped preserve the magic of the night. Fans came out to this show from places as far as Seattle, Ohio, Iowa, and Texas—it was mind-blowing to see such a strong showing of support from across the country. We are just getting started.
Overall, The Poster Child CNCRT was a massive success. It not only celebrated our first year as a brand but also gave Ausar the opportunity to bring his album and this era to a full prominent close. It was an unforgettable night for everyone who attended, and a testament to what we’ve built so far and what’s still to come. We're not just putting on shows—we’re creating moments and memories. We’re building a foundation for the future, and paving the way for artists to thrive. More to come.
