Best-selling artist Post Malone played back-to-back at Madison Square Garden (MSG) with his “Runaway Tour” on October 14th and 15th; with openers Tyla Yaweh, Funkmaster Flex and Swae Lee. Malone sold tickets to his tour to coincide with the rollout of his most recent album, Hollywood’s Bleeding.
Malone is an American rapper/ singer who is known for some popular songs such as “White Iverson”, “Rockstar” (featuring 21 Savage), and “Sunflower” (featuring Swae Lee), just to name a few. According to the music streaming platform Spotify, Malone is the second most streamed artist in the world, with an average of fifty-eight million listeners a month on the service.
Photo taken by Megan Ramanand
The process entering went smoothly and moved well but the stage itself was very narrow and difficult to view depending on what section you sat near and there was only one large screen on the left-hand side that projected a “better view.” I think the stage could’ve been a little bit wider to benefit everyone’s perception of the concert no matter where they were sitting and also the screen would have benefited to be on both sides instead of just one.
The concert started right on time with the first opener Tyla Yaweh. As for most concerts, not a lot of attention was focused on the opener. The crowd wasn’t too familiar with his songs and not everyone was in the arena yet; however, I give props to Yaweh for his high energy and for really trying to connect with the audience. He performed nine tracks, including “High Right Now”, “Understand Me”, and “They Ain’t You”.
Following Tyla Yaweh performance was a brief intermission controlled by DJ Funkmaster Flex. Flex played multiple mash-ups of popular hip-hop songs that got the crowd pumped up before Swae Lee took the stage.
Photo taken by Megan Ramanand
American Rapper, Swae Lee, later took the stage playing fourteen songs. Even though Lee performs only his half of featured songs multiple times, his performance felt like a good amount of stage time and he interacted well with the crowd. Swae Lee also brought out rapper Rich the Kid, who performed his hit song “Plug Walk” together and performed “No Type” and “Black Beatles” with his brother Slim Jxmmi. The audience’s reaction to seeing the duo of Rae Sremmurd was very lively, I assume because Lee has been working more as a solo artist lately. Lee also performed other hits, such as “Guatemala”, “Powerglide”, and “Unforgettable”.
Post Malone entered the stage a couple minutes after Swae Lee with a song from his Hollywood’s Bleeding album. Post Malone’s performance throughout was made energetic and fiery by including fireworks and fire, which made the audience go crazy. During some songs, Malone would connect with the fans and talk to the audience before continuing onto the next song.
Other songs Malone played off his newest album included “Saint-Tropez”, “Wow”, “Goodbyes” and also performs older songs from previous albums including “Candy Paint”, “I Fall Apart”, “Better Now”, and “Psycho”. In total, Malone performed twenty songs, giving his fans a true bang for their buck. The only complaint I have about the concert is although Malone’s performance delivered, the stage time felt very fast. He performed an hour long set, but it felt much quicker due to the fast pace of going from one song to the next.
Malone ends it with his diamond-certified hit single “Congratulations”. Before his last performance for the night, Malone gave a brief speech that connected him closer with his fans.
“When I was a kid I always dreamed of playing [MSG],” he said. “For that to come true for two nights back to back is truly a dream come true, I love you all thank you so much.”
The last song choice and short speech was appropriate and very meaningful. I appreciate an artist who can not only perform, but also connect with their audience. It gives a different type of experience for the fans rather than an artist who just sings their allotted time. For me, that’s what made this a very special concert.
