SZA’s five-year absence is certainly due to last December’s SOS The album has remained at number one on the Billboard 200 for nine weeks (and counting). And it’s reflected on the live stage as well.
The SOS North American tour that just started from billboard‘s Woman of the Year hit Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Friday night (February 24) for her third show. In front of a packed house of some 15,000 ecstatic SZA heads, a spectacle of honed sophistication unfolded. four years. It’s a step up from the theater where the singer (real name: Solana Imani Rowe) last performed, but she’s armed herself with music and visuals, validating her rapidly becoming an iconic position across genres in the meantime.
Best of all, SZA’s new show managed to avoid the pitfalls that undermine many other pop diva exhibits. She has mastered 31 of her songs from her two studio albums, including well-chosen covers and obscure tracks in her 90-minute sets, but they are never rushed. It didn’t come off or become a shoehorn. Outfit changes (6 total) were performed nimbly, without long speed her bump interludes.
The conceptual focus is strong, with SZA and company — three musicians tucked into the sides of the stage, four dancers, and a host of pre-recorded augmentations (including guest singers) — playing the main recreated the song with a smooth and convincing precision rooted in a subdued atmosphere. That’s the SZA inventory.
The end result was a fat-free concert that maintained momentum and maintained surprises from start to finish. SOS Album cover, the show opens with “PSA”, one of the 17 tracks in the new set on the setlist, as the video screen phalanx rises to reveal SZA sitting on a diving board on stage, behind her. A sea of water was projected on the Before she “dives in” (via projection) and emerges on floor level with a mighty “Seek & Destroy”. The singer then took the audience on a journey set on a seaside pier, from ‘Notice Me’, ‘Love Galore’, a short version of Erykah Badu’s ‘Bag Lady’ to ‘Blind’ and more.
After a short break, which included live footage of SZA changing costumes while singing “Smoking on My Ex Pack,” the stage changed to a full-size fishing boat, where the dancers performed their routines on multiple levels.SZA on “All the Stars” (collaboration with Kendrick Lamar) Black Panther: Album) “Prom” and “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” before the rough seas, hi-def visual effects, “F2F” (guitarist Ari O’Neill rocks on deck), “Drew Barrymore”, “Doves in the Wind” ”. On the heart-pounding “Low,” Good Ship SZA moved into his Davey Jones Locker, with SZA showing off an impressive split and full of his backbend, while O’Neal played a solo.
SZA later appeared in costume No. 3, riding a life raft above the audience and headed to a bulging lighthouse right behind the soundboard, singing acoustic songs of “Supermodel,” Lizzo’s “Special,” and “Nobody Gets Me.” I sang the performance. “I’m so, so grateful to be here to sing these songs about goodbyes,” she said during a rare conversation with the crowd.
“Gone Girl” brought her back on stage while the SZA crew played Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” “Love Language,” and a few particularly soulful “Snooze.” An image of a huge anchor with jellyfish, sharks and other sea creatures passing by. Meanwhile, the assertive “Kill Bill” was accompanied by silhouetted images of dancers, swords, and more fighting behind a screen.
SZA didn’t finish with a bang, but a smooth but strong finish. Especially in “I Hate U”, he closed his main show with the vibe “The Weekend”. In “Good Days”, SZA started a dive back on his board, now on calm waters, which served as the sole encore. She didn’t have much to say about her that night, but her song and staging said it all and delivered the message that she really took the next level step in her career.
The SOS North American tour hits Toronto on Saturday (February 25th) with 15 more dates scheduled, ending with two shows March 22-23 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA. .
Check out SZA’s Detroit setlist below.
“PSA”
“Seek & Destroy”
“notice me”
“Love Galore”
“Broken Clock”
“unforgivable”
“Already used”
“Bag Lady” (Erykah Badu cover)
“blindness”
“shirt”
“Smoking with my ex pack”
“All the Stars”
“prom”
“Garden (Say It Like Dat)”
“F2F”
“Drew Barrymore”
“Doves in the Wind”
“low”
“Spread your arms”
“Supermodel”/”Special”
“No one catches me”
“Gone Girl”
“SOS”
“Kiss Me More” (Doja Cat Cover)
“words of love”
“Kill Bill”
“hate”
“weekend”
Encore:
“A good day”