The following review was written last year for ‘WMUA’ radio station, sadly their blog was recently shut down, so I thought I’d share the review here. Obviously that means the review is outdated, but there’ll be a new up live review of Tyler this time next week.
Tyler, the Creator‘s reputation isn’t that great in the mainstream public consciousness. Many have heard of the Odd Future rapper’s rough past, which includes starting a ‘riot’ in Boston nearly a decade ago and being banned from numerous European countries for misogynistic and homophobic comments.
This popular depiction of the twenty-six year old California-based rapper was contradicted completely in July of 2017 when Tyler released his fourth studio album, ‘Flower Boy’: a project in which the rapper opened up about his sexuality for the first time . The project received rave reviews from fans and critics alike, even earning himself his first Grammy nomination for ‘Best Rap Album’. After hearing the project and I knew immediately that I needed to catch Tyler on his solo tour in fall of last year, especially given that he is still banned from the UK.
A friend and I arrived arrived two hours before doors opened at the Worcester Palladium in Massachusetts for the sold out gig and were stunned by the sheer amount of people already there. Outside the venue, stretched a line of hundreds of 16-25 year olds all primarily dressed in Tyler’s own Golf Wang clothing label, with the queue already wound around four blocks. Once we reached the back of the line, we spoke to others who had also travelled for hours to catch a glimpse of the rapper, who has avoided performing in central Boston since his run-ins with the police there.
After finally making it into the Palladium, we found our vantage point, keeping our distance from the main floor, which we expected would soon become the type of vicious mosh-pit that you might imagine at a Tyler concert. The staging for the concert was minimal: there was a raised platform in the centre of the stage and after just a short DJ set from Odd Future member, Taco, the crowd was ready for the main event.
Tyler arrived on stage soon enough, dressed in a complete orange ensemble, even sporting an orange beanie-hat – the sort of outfit that only he could pull off. He powered through a twenty track, career spanning setlist, but the highlight was easily his new ‘Flower Boy’ tracks such as ‘Boredom‘, ‘911‘ and ‘Glitter‘. Many of Tyler’s critics would be shocked to see the crowd dancing and singing to nearly every word, in an atmosphere that was anything but riotous. Tyler, centre stage on his raised platform joked with the crowd, and showed off his smooth dance moves – truly displaying his showmanship and expert stage presence.
Of course these newer Tyler tracks were intermixed with the high-energy Tyler, the Creator moments older fans would have expected: classic tracks ‘Deathcamp‘ and ‘Tamale‘ as well as new anthems such as fast-paced ‘I Ain’t Got Time!‘ and new single ‘Who Dat Boy‘, which received a particularly rapturous reception, as the entirety of the two-thousand person crowd leached off of Tyler’s exuberant energy, as he ran and jumped around stage.
Seeing Tyler, the Creator live really demonstrated his versatility as an artist. The old crazy energetic Tyler still exists and he hasn’t lost his ability to hype up an audience, but at the same time he’s more willing to display his emotional side to audiences too. The hour-long set closed with the pseudo-ballad ‘See You Again!‘, a touching moment, and a sentiment that I share, as I pray that I am fortunate enough to see him again in the near future.
The Gig Archive 