Friday’s rainy weather in NYC wasn’t going to stop the fans lined up around the block outside a phone repair shop in Soho Friday night. Lucky for them, they weren’t waiting to get cracked screens repaired. Everyone was in on the same secret: in a couple hours, Visible’s Instagram-ready experience, InVisible NY, would lead them to an exclusive performance by A$AP Ferg. To make it to the performance, attendees passed through five separate rooms. What guests found in those rooms sent them on a journey, allowing them to physically experience how Visible is flipping the phone service world on its head. Visible is a completely app-based phone service for $40 a month on the same 4G LTE network that Verizon uses. But it’s nothing like what’s come before.
Once inside, it was easy to forget the rainy weather. After walking through a photo booth, where guests took sets of photos that were immediately projected on the wall behind the performance stage, they entered a series of rooms filled with changing lights, winding paths, and immersive illusions leading the way to the show. Guides dressed in blue jumpsuits directed visitors through each room, explaining the concepts (and pointing out the best lighting for pictures). Palm trees burst out of every corner and squishy green turf mats mapped the completion of the journey through the InVisible NY space and into the room where Ferg would perform.
Sister DJ duo Angel and Dren spun tracks from Cardi B to Drake to warm up the crowd before Ferg jumped on stage, asking the already pumped up audience “Can we turn up tonight?” The answer was a resounding yes. He started off big with “Coach Cartier” and soon, the crowd started dancing and rapping along to the music together.
Breakout Florida Project star Bria Vinaite was there too, weaving through the crowd in head-to-toe flames. After running through some classics, Ferg decided to switch it up. “I wanna get into Mad Man real quick! Can I get an A$AP?” You know he did.
Nearing the end of his set, Ferg made tribute to the late A$AP Yams and Tupac. The theme of the night seemed to be sending the fans on a trip: to the palms, back to some classics, or just somewhere removed from everything else. “Can we turn this mother f*cker upside down?” Ferg asked the crowd.
After performing his hits and thanking the fans, Ferg left the audience with one last thought. “I’m a brown boy that came out of this city…anything is possible. If it’s depression or anxiety you can come through that shit and become who you want to become.”
