Machine Gun Kelly vs. 'The Internet': High energy and deep emotion define Ruoff stop

Say what you will about Machine Gun Kelly, but he knows how to entertain a crowd.

The 32-year-old Cleveland native played a packed show at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville as part of his Mainstream Sellout Tour Thursday evening. Kelly — born Colson Baker — shared an evening with Hoosiers filled with musical surprises, deeply emotional moments and a personal vendetta against the internet.

Opening for Kelly was R&B-turned-punk-pop artist Willow Smith, known professionally as Willow. The singer took the stage at 7:45 p.m., about 15 minutes before her scheduled set, and wasted no time riling the crowd up.

Dressed in ripped tights, a fuzzy crocheted hat, yellow tinted glasses and a t-shirt she was practically swimming in, Willow played a short but enjoyable set; her siren-like soprano voice resonating throughout the venue.

Packed inside Ruoff, a sea of what Kelly later guesstimated was about 17,000 fans — mostly dressed in the artist's signature pink and black — resembled that of the early- to mid-2000s era of pop-punk concerts. Colored hair, ripped jeans, fishnet tights and combat boots worn by a majority of concertgoers were very much on brand for a concert of that genre, albeit with an elevated sense of edginess.

Kelly’s set began with a humorous, theatrical opening, where he is shown onscreen trapped in a box by a monster called “The Internet,” and is forced to call someone to come rescue him. This cues flashing lights and the pink and black striped prop helicopter rigged to the ceiling of the amphitheater to descend toward to stage for Kelly to hitch a ride.

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When Kelly finally did take the stage just before 9 p.m., the amphitheater erupted in cheers and screams as he dangled from the ladder of the helicopter — no safety harness, just hanging on by one arm and vibes — as he launched into “born with horns.”

Kelly’s entire stage setup was odd, to say the least: a round, black and white checkered tilted platform stage rested underneath an accumulation of TV screen props and the aforementioned pink and black helicopter. Bullet-hole-ridden trash cans lined the front of the stage framing Kelly and his mannequin arm mic stand that doubled as an ashtray — which the singer used generously throughout the night.

Dressed in a rhinestone encrusted crop top and black velvet cheetah print pants with large silver chains fastened to the front and sporting baby pink hair, Kelly’s appearance nearly mimics that of his fans in the crowd. Nevertheless, his eccentricity and unique stage presence guaranteed the momentum of the show remained consistent.

However, some moments between songs feel almost like a resting point, a full stop from the show as Kelly engaged with the crowd candidly, making jokes and taking the time to introduce his band. Other moments felt like whiplash, switching between the background plot of the enemy character “The Internet” — materialized in the form of a large boxy TV-like screen head on top of a giant inflatable body — which pops up at seemingly random times if only to insult Kelly in various ways.

“I am The Internet,” the TV screen head bellowed in a mechanical-sounding voice. “I say whatever I want about people.”

They bicker back and forth onstage at various moments throughout the set.

“The internet has a power over your mind that you need to [expletive] get rid of,” Kelly said later, addressing the crowd once more. “Beauty is in your own [expletive] eyes; your taste, your life is in your heart. Don’t let that place take your light.”

It’s a little weird, and the entire concept doesn’t make a lot of sense in the context of a concert. However, his words are meaningful and his point is well-made.

These moments and others felt less like a concert and more like a convoluted cabaret where anything is possible between the plot, the props and the setlist, including a random blow-up figure of a woman that is mentioned once and never again for the duration of the show.

On more than one occasion, Kelly made his way into the audience, directly engaging with concertgoers while performing “drug dealer” and “ay!” and again during “make up sex” and “my ex’s best friend” toward the end of the set.

Kelly later invited Travis Barker, the drummer for Blink-182, to join him onstage to play a few songs from Kelly’s his latest album, “mainstream sellout” — which he also said Barker helped write and produce.

“I want to bring someone out who has had my back since day one,” he said as Barker walks onstage and takes a seat at the drum set at the top of the tilted stage. Kelly said Barker’s thumb was broken, among other problems, but he still came to play for Indiana.

Together they perform several songs including “5150,” “love race” and “bloody valentine” — the last of which Kelly invited two children from the crowd to come up on stage with him.

The smell of some choice herbs in the air was nearly dizzying as Kelly continued playing through “bloody valentine” pausing momentarily to say, “All right Indiana, I wanna see your ladies,” prompting dozens of girls to be hoisted up onto the shoulders of boyfriends, friends and whoever else had come with them for the remainder of the song.

Next in the set came a well-intended cover of Blink-182’s “All the Small Things,” before the elusive “Internet” figure returned and Kelly dove into more rap-heavy songs such as “roll the windows up” and “el Diablo.”

To say the entire atmosphere of the concert changed during these songs would be an understatement. Featuring dramatic lighting changes and heavy 808’s blending together with live drums, the next few songs included a battle between “The Internet” and the helicopter, which fired pyrotechnics at it to defeat it.

Despite opening for him earlier in the night, Willow did not join Kelly onstage during “emo girl.” However, not many people seemed to notice and rocked out to the song with dancing, screaming and ferocious headbanging.

Eventually, Kelly pointed out the full moon, which had slowly risen and hit its peak over the course of the show. He even prompted people in the crowd to turn around and look at the moon as it sat just above the line of the amphitheater lawn.

“You’re all so beautiful and the moon is so beautiful,” he said before playing “lonely.” “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

Almost the entire concert was performed with Kelly cigarette in hand, only setting it down to pick up one of several pink and black guitars or an occasional acoustic guitar, such as for the last song, “twin flame." Soft blue lights formed a near-halo on the stage as fog swirled, creating a delicate moment as cellphone flashlights went up throughout the amphitheater.

The moment was sweet and seemed to last a lifetime. Concertgoers slowly filtered out of the amphitheater as Kelly wished them well and closed the show.

Contact IndyStar reporter Chloe McGowan at CWilkersonMcGowan@gannett.com. Follow her Twitter: @chloe_mcgowanxx.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Machine Gun Kelly gives Noblesville Ruoff crowd an energetic show