LIVE: SZA– August 30, 2017

Venue: The Fillmore

City: Detroit, MI

Date: August 30, 2017

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

I love to hear of an up-n-coming artist being announced at a small venue and the show selling out.  When that show gets moved to a bigger venue and immediately sells out the remaining tickets at the new location, it gives me hope for new music, new artists, and the growth of music in general, regardless of the genre.  When hot new artist SZA announced a Detroit date on her CTRL tour, tickets were snatched up for Saint Andrews, which necessitated the move to The Fillmore – and those tickets went just as fast.  With the excitement around this show, I knew it was one I had to check out, although this genre is not my normal musical cup of tea.

As the time neared for SZA to take the stage, you could cut the anticipation with a knife in the PACKED venue.  As song after song played warming up the audience, the singing, rapping, and cheering from the crowd got louder and louder with each stanza.  As the moment approached, you could feel the main floor move with the up and down motion of the fans that have waited for their night with SZA.  With little fanfare, she hit the stage and began her show draped in red light for the first song.  She moved from front to back, left to right, and would have taken flight if she could.  SZA controlled the flow of the show, literally, from behind her mic as she led her band through songs from her latest release CTRL.  While the term rap does apply to her music, it has a hip-hop flavor to it that blends with R&B nuances, giving us a different sound and feel to the show and music.  This wasn’t simply someone talking or rapping over beats and other peoples music – SZA was delivering a performance that crossed over different genres giving everybody in the venue something to enjoy.  She chatted and quipped with fans between songs, came to the front of the stage to shake hands, give high fives, and to share a moment with just about anyone that she could.  Tonight was about connection – between SZA, her music, and her fans… even the new ones she made tonight.

Complete set of SZA show photos HERE

Setlist: Supermodel – Anything – Broken Clocks – Go Gina – Drew Barrymore – HiiJack – Child’s Play – Normal Girl – Prom – Doves in the Wind – Wavy (Interlude) – Garden (Say It Like Dat) – Love Galore – The Weekend

SZA LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries