On September 25, Tyler, the Creator came to the Mann Center’s Skyline Stage in Philadelphia as part of his IGOR tour with opening acts GoldLink and Jaden Smith. The lines circled all around the Mann Center early in the day as excited fans waited for the gates to open to rush to the barrier. Though the heat was at a high that day, the energy was higher while thousands gathered on the lawn for the iconic IGOR tour.
The concert started at 6:30 p.m. with GoldLink performing his most popular song, “Crew,” and the crowd was thrilled as a mosh pit formed early on. Packed like a bunch of eager sardines, the crowd went wild as they slammed and jumped against each other to the opening set. Though his visuals were minimalistic, he still managed to rock his performance! The crowd’s energy was so overwhelming that GoldLink even performed the song a second time! He definitely set the high spirits for the night with a smashing opening performance.
If you thought the opening fun stopped there, then you would be mistaken because Jaden Smith came to raise the bar even higher! With incredible visuals and vibrant pink, beaming lights, Jaden came out to an overly-enthusiastic crowd and opened with his song, “P.” The mosh pit grew so intense and aggressive that Jaden stopped his performance midway through and declared, “I have to cut songs because I have too many situations,” as people began to faint. He followed that by saying, “People keep passing out so we gonna do a chill song,” and proceeded to perform his romantic song, “Summertime in Paris.” The fans even had the opportunity to be filmed for Jaden’s prospective music video and were filmed singing “Happy Birthday” to his father, Philadelphia’s own star, Will Smith. The concert only continued to get more exciting as the night went on.
Finally, the moment we all waited for arrived, and the anticipated main act of the night, Tyler, the Creator, came out on stage to perform “IGOR’S THEME,” the opening song on IGOR. He stood still for most of the song until the bass dropped, and he danced ridiculously on stage as strobe lights flashed all around. He performed many of his newest songs, such as “I THINK” and “EARFQUAKE,” where he played a beautiful version of it on the piano, but fear not, fans who enjoy his older music; he threw in his older songs in his setlist as well! Fans were delighted to hear older tracks such as “Yonkers” and “She” from 2011. He did not forget to add his famous songs from his past album, Flower Boy, as he also performed “Who Dat Boy” and “See You Again.” His setlist was very well-rounded and balanced with his newer songs, iconic songs and older songs, which gave something for all fans to enjoy. He also did not hold back his explicit, raunchy humor in between songs, which makes him so relevant and relatable. His visuals were so colorful and fitting for his songs, and he did not miss a note as he put on such a remarkable show.
Overall, the concert was very exhilarating and memorable for so many reasons. The opening acts excellently prepared the crowd for an exciting night to come with a variety of thrilling songs. To add, the visuals were quite well-crafted and made the experience so much more amusing. Finally, Tyler, the Creator gave all he had up on the stage and showed Philadelphia what a massively talented artist he truly is. The IGOR concert in Philadelphia will always remain one to remember and leaves fans waiting for him to return to rock the city of Philadelphia once more!