I went to the “Chromakopia Tour” 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. I’m glad I went twice, and I definitely didn’t get bored seeing it back to back: if you don’t mind being at a show for multiple hours, I’d definitely recommend showing up early enough to see each starting act; it’s well worth it.
If you’re going and looking to get merch: either get there ahead of time and line up before doors open, or go just as Lil Yachty’s 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 don’t expect low prices; however, all of the pieces are technically GOLF branded, so it’s all solid quality. Anyways—on 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 I’m upset they didn’t play my favourite track, “Heavy Metal,” it’s hard to deny these two make some great music together. They performed on the small secondary stage, but they didn’t let that stop them from bringing the energy. There’s 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 I’d say mission accomplished.
In 2025 alone, they’ve put out two EP’s, They Left Me With The Sword and They Left Me With A Gun, both of which I recommend giving a listen. “Infinyte,” “Tantrum” and “H A L O” 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 I’m stoked I got to hear them live before they blow up.
Act II. Lil Yachty
I won’t say I’m 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 “Broccoli” and “iSpy” live.
While I don’t love all of Lil Yachty’s stuff, his 2023 album Let’s Start Here is one of my favourite albums of the 2020s. I’m stoked that I got to hear a section of “the BLACK seminole.” live—as was the friend I was with, considering it’s one of her favourite songs of all time. Given it was the biggest track on the album, it wasn’t surprising to hear “drive ME crazy!” either; it’s 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 he’s changed musically. It’s virtually impossible not to notice when he transitions from a track like “Poland” to “WE SAW THE SUN!” in just a few minutes of one another.
The performances of these songs were stellar, which was further proven by the crowd’s 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.
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 “St. Chroma” was the perfect choice to get the audience’s immediate attention after the short break between sets.
While the album itself didn’t 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 ‘segments’ 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, it’s really impressive seeing an entire stadium singing along to a song like “Judge Judy”.
On the flip side, hearing “Sticky” live was as hype as I’d hoped it’d 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 “Sticky,” which cautions “Better find a mop, it’s getting sticky in this bi*ch.”
As Tyler performs “Sticky” 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. It’s 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, he’ll pull one of his albums out and show it to the camera, and the crowd loses it.
His set spans (almost) all of his albums, and despite the fact there were one or two songs I was hoping he’d play and didn’t, it’s 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.
It wasn’t 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. He’s a one-man show and he owns the stage. If you get the chance to go to this tour, do it.