Travis Kelce reigns over Kelce Jam, with rock stars, a light show — and chicken wings

The first ever Kelce Jam started off in true Travis Kelce fashion Friday night, with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end parading through Azura Amphitheatre, posing for pictures, greeting fans and even picking up a slice of pizza and some wings at the food stands — all with the Lombardi Trophy in hand. (OK, it was a replica.)

Created and hosted by Kelce himself, the music festival in Bonner Springs was a celebration of both the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win this year and Kansas City as it hosted the NFL Draft a few miles away at Union Station.

“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” Kelce told reporters after his foray through the fans before the show kicked off.

“It’s an honor to be able to put this on for Kansas City and to be out there and see them appreciate it like they are already. It’s going in the right direction,” he said.

Starting at 6 p.m. with DJs revving up the crowd and lasting until about midnight, the event was packed with music — rappers Rick Ross, Machine Gun Kelly (who, like Kelce, grew up in the Cleveland area) and Kansas City’s Tech N9ne, and the Canadian DJ duo Loud Luxury — plus a wing eating competition and more than 1,900 fans.

“I think it is a lot of fun that Travis Kelce put this on and had a bunch of music artists come celebrate our win and the NFL Draft,” said Regan Bond, who drove from Topeka with her sister Karly Bond.

“The community is really nice. Everyone is super excited and it’s fun to see,” said Karly Bond.

Gracie Hunt, daughter of Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt, said that’s the beauty of the Chiefs players.

“They use their platforms to make a difference in the city. That’s really what it’s all about: making the world a better place, finding something you’re passionate about and serving the people around you,” she said before the show.

Kelce the rock star

Kelce started the night with a montage of his greatest hits on the field before he appeared on stage in front of a pyro machine blasting fire behind him and smoke machines in front of him.

He was wearing what he called a “Canadian tuxedo” — denim on denim topped with a matching bucket hat.

The audience cheered him on while he sang the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right,” an unofficial anthem for the Chiefs and overarching theme of what he called “the greatest Draft party of all time.”

“You gotta fight for your right to party,” Kelce sang to the crowd.

Photos: Travis Kelce, Machine Gun Kelly, a smashed Super Bowl trophy. See Kelce Jam

Chicken wing eating competition

Next came a chicken wing eating competition, sponsored by Wingstop and hosted by Kelce and Rick Ross, who happens to own 25 Wingstop locations.

The two competitors, Hayden Gillum and Ryan Toppings, had to eat as many wings as possible in 90 seconds.

“Oh we got Wingstop!” Ross said. “I got one question: legs or flats?”

Gillum, a center for Kansas State University football, took home the Wingstop trophy by scarfing down 19 wings. Toppings finished with 10.

The food

The food was a highlight, with local barbecue favorites like Joe’s Kansas CityBar-B-Que, Jack Stack Barbecue and Q39, locally owned Hawaiian Bros and Longboards Wraps and Bowls.

In his parade through the amphitheater, Kelce stopped at the booths of a couple of sponsors, Wingstop and Papa John’s.

The drone show

Madison Parry, who scored some last-minute tickets, said she was most excited to see the drone show, sponsored by T-Mobile.

“I came because I’m not really the type of person to come to this type of thing at all, but because the NFL Draft is unique to Kansas City this year, I figured I should come,” Parry said.

The drones didn’t disappoint. As the DJ continued playing music, 350 drones lit up the night sky, flashing phrases like “This Is Our House,” “2023 Champs,” “Kelce Jam” and “#1 Pick.” They morphed into a pink and red heart, the Kansas City skyline and a spinning football sailing through a goal post.

Star-studded performances

Hometown favorite Tech N9ne was the first to take the stage, rapping hit songs like “Hood Go Crazy” and his ode to the Chiefs, “Red Kingdom.”

Ross followed up next with a set list packed with hits like “B.M.F.” and “All I Do Is Win.” The crowd sang along to “Aston Martin Music” and “Here I Am.”

He took a moment to praise Tech N9ne for his accomplishments as a rapper who paved his own way by cultivating a loyal fan-base and owning a record label.

“Y’all make some noise for this legend right here,” Ross said.

Loud Luxury played a full set of dance and EDM mixes, with the crowd jumping in sync to every beat drop. Joe Depace, half of the DJ duo, jumped on nearly every amplifier on stage and danced on top of the DJ booth for most of the set.

Depace and Andrew Fedyk kept the audience on their feet for nearly 40 minutes, switching off from DJing at the booth to engaging with the crowd.

“Make some noise if you hate Joe Burrow,” Depace said about the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, which successfully riled the audience up.

The group even played an EDM cut of the “Monday Night Football” theme song “Heavy Action,” while Kelce attempted to Get Sturdy, the popular TikTok dance that originated with late rapper Pop Smoke.

People were especially pumped for headliner Machine Gun Kelly, who came out with a full band, playing songs like “Maybe” and “Ay!”

MGK’s rapper/rocker stage presence electrified the entire amphitheater.

He joked that his guitar skills were not at “Guitar Hero” level, yet he showed off his musical prowess, switching among instruments throughout his set. He even performed while hanging off a light tower in the middle of the amphitheatre.

Kelce and MGK both sang another rendition of “Fight for your Right.” Kelce butchered some of the words in the later verses but MGK helped him stay on track by grabbing pages of the lyrics placed on the stage for them. Eventually the entire crowd joined in.

Everybody: “You gotta fight for your right to party.”