D4vd, an 18-year-old from Houston, Texas, made famous by his TikTok hit “Romantic Homicide,” opened the show with incredible vocals and a punk rock sound. D4vd began touring with SZA after he attended one of her shows and was brought backstage. After his success on TikTok, he released the single “Here With Me” and then his first album, “Petals to Thorns,” with his second album, “The Lost Petals,” in September.
At 9 p.m., the lights lowered, and the screen rose to reveal SZA sitting on a platform over a projected ocean, imitating the SOS album cover. After singing “PSA,” the screen lowered, and an animated SZA lept into the water below her to begin the show. The screen rose again to reveal SZA with her dancers as she launched into “Seek and Destroy.”
She danced atop a boat, traveling across the ocean. As the concert continued, she sailed across the ocean, and below, she descended to the sea floor with an anchor marking the journey. After she reached the ocean floor, she brought out to perform their song “Rich Baby Daddy,” Sexyy Red first performed “Pound Town,” then “SkeeYee,” and they ended with “Rich Baby Daddy,” their collaboration on the new Drake album, “For all the Dogs.”
SZA boarded a lifeboat and rose over the crowd to serenade and throw petals as she sang “Supermodel,” Standing up in the boat and closer to the crowd, it felt so personal and yet, at the same time, such a communal experience. I watched the girls in front of me hold on to each other and sing “Don’t need no ex don’t need no text I choose not to respond” to each other, an anthem for their independence as SZA sailed past singing and waving to the fans below her,
As she ended “The Weekend” and the screen lowered to black, the crowd continued cheering, awaiting what would happen next. The screen lit up to a rosy sunset over the same ocean she began the show with. As the screen rose to reveal her once again sitting on the platform, now in a white dress, as the pre-chorus began, the sunset behind her rose into a spiraling sun, then revealed Earth, with a backdrop of stars, splashed with color, the moon orbited around, as the song ended the screen lowered for the final time as the orbiting moon faded into a starry sky spelling out “The End.”
As the lights came back on after “Good Days,” I grabbed my sweater and told my friend to text our ride, when we were interrupted by SZA on the microphone saying, “I don’t do this at every show.” I immediately threw down my sweater and reached for my phone, knowing I would not be disappointed. With the lights still up, SZA returned to the stage wearing a bathrobe and began singing “20 Something” as a tribute to her late grandmother.
The show was emotional for SZA herself, saying that Saint Louis didn’t have the greatest memories for her, but with this show began new, happier ones. As she sang “20 Something,” the crowd overwhelmed her with love, singing the lyrics for her. When she finished the song, she thanked the crowd and picked fans whom she watched throughout the show to come backstage to meet her after the show.
Leaving the show felt exhilarating, and walking out among the crowd of people who had experienced the show created a bond. We smiled at one another, laughing and exclaiming our surprise at Sexyy Red and the show overall.
