In downtown Detroit on Feb. 28, Little Caesars Arena was packed with tens of thousands of fans waiting in anticipation to witness some amazing talent. Tyler, the Creator brought along fellow music artists Kali Uchis, Vince Staples and Teezo Touchdown for his headlining "CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST" tour.
The opener for a concert is key to warm up the crowd and begin a truly great experience. Teezo Touchdown came out first and had LCA piping hot, which is extremely impressive considering this is the musicians first touring experience ever.
If you’re unfamiliar with the artist, his seemingly unorthodox style and approach is hard to take in. However, his amazing energy makes his music easier to receive. The alternative singer connected to the crowd quickly with his track “I’m Just a Fan,'' where he was able to get the audience in the mood to have a great night.
Teezo and his assistant also handed out merch and a special hard hat for the audience member they deemed to have the best energy.
Soon after Teezo left the stage, rapper Vince Staples made his way out. Staples has been rapping for over a decade now and has gained popularity and acclaim through many hit songs. He was introduced early to the game for many veteran Tyler, the Creator fans through appearances in Odd Future’s early days.
Knowing all of this going in, I was expecting to see one of the best performances ever, but thanks to the audio engineer at LCA I was wrong. The audio was awful for those not in the pit; you could barely make out a word that Staples was saying. To put it in perspective, it was equivalent to the adults in the Charlie Brown cartoon.
The audience still tried to show respect by clapping and moving along to the beat, yet even that was hard. Regardless, Staples still powered through like a true artist and gave all of his energy from start to finish.
The last opener to come on stage was Columbian superstar Kali Uchis. When Kali started to perfrom, the atmosphere in the entire arena changed. Everyone stood up to witness the magic and no one was disappointed. Performing songs from her most recent album “Sin Miedo'' to older tracks from project “Por Vida," the entire crowd sang along as they watched in amazement as Uchis and her backup dancers lit up the stage. This set really had a different energy about it than the previous ones and was perfect leading up to the main show.
Last but not least, the star of the set Tyler, the Creator finally appeared in dramatic fashion as usual, rising from the stage in a vintage Rolls Royce Wraith. From then on, he controlled the entire stadium.
Tyler played hit songs like "LUMBERJACK," and "WUSYANAME," from his newest album, as well as taking fans by surprise with performances of tracks from the early 2010's such as "Tamale," and "Yonkers."
In addition to the performance, Tyler also had an amazing stage set with a mansion inspired by Wes Anderson and lighting similar to Kanye West's “Yeezus” tour, along with his normal silly antics.
This show was definitely one of his best to date, and shows massive growth in both artistry and fanbase since his 2019 Detroit performance at The Masonic Temple.
Each of these four artists were truly genuine and unique with each one of their sets, creating a welcoming and exciting environment for all of Detroit. Of all of the concerts I have been to, most of them fail to compare to this electrifying night.
