By Jack McLaughlin
Tyler, the Creator made a stop at the DCU Center on March 3 with Teezo Touchdown, Vince Staples, and Kali Uchis as part of the “Call Me If You Get Lost” Tour. The tour has been ongoing since February and was the first concert I had ever attended.
It felt surreal to see the long lines to get in the stadium and the large crowds surrounding the small tables selling merchandise. After the last couple years, it almost felt like I would never be able to experience something like a concert at this scale.
We got settled in after an eternity standing in the cold. The opening acts lasted almost three hours, which was an excruciating wait to see the main act.
Teezo and Vince Staples’ acts really couldn’t compare to the latter half of the show. And you could tell that the audience wasn’t as engrossed in these first two artists compared to Tyler and Kali.
Suddenly, all the lights in the stadium went out and a Rolls Royce appeared on stage. I couldn’t hear anything except the screaming and the long anticipated music that everyone waited all night to hear.
Tyler finally emerged from the Royce and began what would be the most exciting performance that I could have ever witnessed.
During his first song, “CORSO,” loud and shining explosives were set off to go with certain sections. This only made the audience even more excited, screaming even louder at each booming pop he set off.
Between him making fun of how “Worcester” is pronounced or using his interactions with the crowd in front of him to transition into fan favorites, these parts of the show added a personal touch that made it more than just listening to his songs being performed.
The set design for this show was unique, and something I hadn’t heard of before. After only playing a few songs, he proceeded to the front of the stage where he exited via a boat that took him across the stadium to a smaller stage that was made to look like a field.
Following some time on the smaller stage, his iconic single “See You Again” began, and he didn’t even have to sing it as the lyrics were perfectly audible from the entire stadium singing it.
After pleasing longtime fans of his with a few older songs, he returned to the boat to conclude the show on the main stage with just a few more songs.
Before starting “NEW MAGIC WAND,” he asked the crowd to start chanting with him. It was at this moment my friend and I knew what was coming – the one song we were both dying to hear live.
The entire crowd got into it, and when the song started it sent the audience into a wild frenzy. You could look down into the horde of people near the stage and see them crowd surfing or pushing each other around a circle they formed.
This was the best part of the show. Everyone at this point was completely invested in the song and their energy matched that perfectly.
The biggest missed opportunity of the show was the lack of collaborations on stage with Tyler. Two of the opening acts featured on some of the songs he performed, and their absence on stage was felt considerably and could have added a lot to the show.
The overabundance of opening acts was also an issue I had with this show. I had to wait almost three hours to see the artist I came for, and two-thirds of the opening artists were not worth getting to the performance on time to see.
Despite that, this concert further cemented my love for Tyler and will certainly go down as a night I won’t forget for a long time.
Rating: A: An unforgettable experience with one of my favorite current artists