As the fog began swirling and the strobe lights flashed, the crowd surged toward the stage, frantically climbing over folded theater seats and shoving to get to the front.

This was the scene Wednesday inside Crouse Hinds Theater at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse as Kid Cudi, Big Sean and Logic performed for a packed house of hip-hop fanatics. The show was originally supposed to be in the War Memorial Arena, which is a standing room only venue, but at the last minute the location was moved to Crouse Hinds — the home of the Syracuse Opera.

While some people were unhappy about the change, others were pleased with the decision.

“It’s nice actually being able to see. If you were at the Oncenter and you were standing in the back, you wouldn’t be able to see,” said Greg St. Amour, 23, of Rochester, who is 5’7”.

He added, though, it was a strange venue for a hip-hop show.

“I’ve seen a play here before with my grandparents, so it’s kind of an odd mix,” he said.

Maryland-born rapper Logic kicked off the show with an energetic set that established the tone for the night. A relatively unknown Logic only recently signed with Def Jam Records and told the crowd he was invited on tour after his fans kept telling Kid Cudi to listen to Logic’s music.

He opened with “5AM” off his mixtape “Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever.” Although the 23-year-old rapper is new to the hip-hop scene, audience members rapped along and many sported red jerseys emblazoned with Logic’s self-designated nickname, “Young Sinatra.”

Logic performed a number of his more popular songs, including “The Come Up,” “Ballin” and “Roll Call,” interspersing his set with a cappella freestyle verses that showcased his skill with rapid-fire verses and clever, thought-provoking rhymes.

Big Sean took the stage shortly after, making a dramatic entrance against a backdrop of a changing video screen, circling spotlights and the sound of loud drums.

He quickly launched into “Fire” off his latest album, “Hall of Fame.” Then he led the crowd in a chant of his signature phrase, “Oh God,” which elicited cheers and whistles from audience members.

But it wasn’t until Big Sean launched into an abbreviated version of the hit song “Mercy,” followed by the well-known hit, “Dance (A$$),” that the crowd began to dance and sing along to every lyric.

Immediately following his track “Guap,” Big Sean took off his shirt, prompting squeals of delight from female audience members before he launched into fan favorite “Don’t Like” off Kanye West’s “Cruel Summer” collaborative album.

“Syracuse, N.Y.: that’s that s**t I do like,” Big Sean said after finishing the song, prompting even louder cheers from the crowd.

After Big Sean left the stage, the audience had a long wait before Kid Cudi came out. But Amelia Luce of Rochester was looking forward to his set, because she has been a fan of his music from the beginning.

“Now it seems like he’s going back to what he did before, so I like it,” she said. “I’m excited that he’s playing a lot of his first stuff because that’s what I started listening to.”

During the wait, crewmembers hid the stage with a large white sheet, concealing the set they had constructed earlier, which turned out to be a jagged mountain decorated with the silhouette of Kid Cudi situated among makeshift planets.

Madeline Heilbronner, 17, of Rochester said she was a fan of all of Kid Cudi’s work. When she got tickets, she said, “I cried. A lot.”

As soon as it looked like Kid Cudi would soon be taking the stage, the crowd began a collective chant of “Cudi,” breaking out into loud cheers when he emerged from a cave at the foot of the mountain in a spacesuit bearing the same crest that was nested on the mountain.

He launched into his signature wail, singing “Down & Out” and “Soundtrack 2 My Life” in quick succession as the audience followed along word for word. Cudi danced around the stage tirelessly, smiling throughout each song and calling out audience members wearing Kid Cudi T-shirts.

Though he performed some of his newer tracks early on, he mostly stuck to his older albums, such as “Man On the Moon: The End of Day” and “Man On the Moon: Vol. II: The Legend of Mr. Rager,” from which Cudi performed “Marijuana,” “Erase Me” and “Mr. Rager.”

But the biggest surprise of the night was when he brought out rapper King Chip to perform “Just What I Am” and “Brothers” on stage as fog machines leaked into the crowd.

It wasn’t until “Memories,” however, that Kid Cudi proved he could still get the crowd going. As the floor of the theater shook, thousands of fans danced and sang to the electronic-infused hit that has become one of Cudi’s most popular songs. He then immediately launched into “Up, Up and Away,” followed by “Pursuit of Happiness.” When he performed the “Pursuit of Happiness” remix, fans on all three tiers of the theater were out of their seats.

The audience showed so much enthusiasm, that after finishing the song, Kid Cudi looked out in the audience and congratulated the crowd on being one of his favorite stops on the tour.

“I haven’t been to Syracuse in two years,” Kid Cudi said after the song ended. “Out of 30-plus dates, y’all made the top five.”

Published on October 3, 2013 at 2:45 am

Contact Avery: avhartma@syr.edu | @averyhartmans