I went to the âChromakopia Tourâ twice within the span of one weekend. The first show I went to was on Feb. 28 in Vancouver, and the second was on March 2 in Seattle. Iâm glad I went twice, and I definitely didnât get bored seeing it back to back: if you donât mind being at a show for multiple hours, Iâd definitely recommend showing up early enough to see each starting act; itâs well worth it.Â
If youâre going and looking to get merch: either get there ahead of time and line up before doors open, or go just as Lil Yachtyâs set is ending. The latter is the way I went about it, and I had no trouble skipping a line while missing as little of the performance as possible. The merch is concert merch, so donât expect low prices; however, all of the pieces are technically GOLF branded, so itâs all solid quality. Anywaysâon to the performances themselves.
Act I. Paris Texas
Paris Texas is an independent hip-hop duo from Los Angeles, made up of Felix and Louis Pastel. I had only listened to one of their projects prior to the first show, Boy Anonymous, and while Iâm upset they didnât play my favourite track, âHeavy Metal,â itâs hard to deny these two make some great music together. They performed on the small secondary stage, but they didnât let that stop them from bringing the energy. Thereâs no doubt that being a relatively unknown act opening for two massive names in hip-hop is a frightening task, but they lived up to it. They got the large general admission crowd of white suburban Vancouver teens turning up to pretty heavy material, so Iâd say mission accomplished.
In 2025 alone, theyâve put out two EPâs, They Left Me With The Sword and They Left Me With A Gun, both of which I recommend giving a listen. âInfinyte,â âTantrumâ and âH A L Oâ are some of my favourite tracks. Being an independent group, yet managing to work their way to a stage this large has me rooting for them, and Iâm stoked I got to hear them live before they blow up.
Act II. Lil Yachty
I wonât say Iâm a massive fan of old-school Lil Yachty, but hearing his throwback hits in a stadium setting was a pretty fun experience. Although I was pretty close-minded when it came to music back in high school (I was that kid who thought Queen and Pink Floyd made the only music worth listening to), I still got a sense of nostalgia from hearing âBroccoliâ and âiSpyâ live.Â
While I donât love all of Lil Yachtyâs stuff, his 2023 album Letâs Start Here is one of my favourite albums of the 2020s. Iâm stoked that I got to hear a section of âthe BLACK seminole.â liveâas was the friend I was with, considering itâs one of her favourite songs of all time. Given it was the biggest track on the album, it wasnât surprising to hear âdrive ME crazy!â either; itâs easily the most palatable track on an experimental album and very easy to vibe to. Being able to hear his evolution within the span of his roughly hour-long setlist shows how much heâs changed musically. Itâs virtually impossible not to notice when he transitions from a track like âPolandâ to âWE SAW THE SUN!â in just a few minutes of one another.
The performances of these songs were stellar, which was further proven by the crowdâs reaction; by the end of his set, he was parading around the stage holding three bras thrown at him from the audience above his head. Both openers brought the appropriate energy and rolled out the red carpet for the man everyone was there to see.Â
Act III. Tyler, The Creator
Chromakopia was not only one of my favourite albums of 2024, but possibly my favourite Tyler album to date. Seeing it live only reaffirmed that status. The anticipation throughout the night had been steadily building, and opening with âSt. Chromaâ was the perfect choice to get the audienceâs immediate attention after the short break between sets.Â
While the album itself didnât use the St. Chroma character very extensively, the first seven songs of the show feature Tyler in the full military getup (as depicted on the album cover). The aesthetic Tyler adopts between the two âsegmentsâ of the show are polar opposites, but both so clearly Tyler. The show is something only he could put together, and meshing these aesthetics with one another is just one part of that. For an album as personal as Chromakopia, itâs really impressive seeing an entire stadium singing along to a song like âJudge Judyâ.Â
On the flip side, hearing âStickyâ live was as hype as Iâd hoped itâd be. The Seattle venue seemed to expect the same, as one of the restrictions against items you were allowed to bring inside included a mop. This is in reference to the refrain of âSticky,â which cautions âBetter find a mop, itâs getting sticky in this bi*ch.â Â
As Tyler performs âStickyâ he leaves the main stage and moves across a walkway that drops from the ceiling. He makes his way to the second stage where he then changes out of his St. Chroma outfit, and into a classic Tyler outfit. Itâs on this stage where Tyler starts going back through his discography.
The set-up for transitioning between different albums of eras and albums feels so simple, but it really is a genius way to keep the audience engaged. The second stage is set up to mimic a living room, with a record player in the middle. Throughout the show, Tyler goes up to a box of records that has a camera positioned so the audience can only see the backs of the albums as he flips through them. Then, heâll pull one of his albums out and show it to the camera, and the crowd loses it.Â
His set spans (almost) all of his albums, and despite the fact there were one or two songs I was hoping heâd play and didnât, itâs really difficult to complain. He plays the majority of Chromakopia, and all the big hits from his previous records. Each era gets some representation which should make all Tyler fans happy with the selection, although Cherry Bomb unfortunately gets the least playtime. Â
It wasnât until writing this that I realized Tyler was up there alone for the entire performance. It was only him, performing music made essentially entirely by himself; at no point did it feel like something was missing, or that he needed any company on stage. Heâs a one-man show and he owns the stage. If you get the chance to go to this tour, do it.