1. As I’m pushing through the maskless crowds of Mandalay Bay, it feels like I’m in a time machine, back to Super Bowl Weekend 2019. Tourists spill from every bar and restaurant on the casino block. Bouncers at Light nightclub ready themselves for a busy, post-event evening. It all feels so normal, so Vegas … until I remember we just had a mask mandate lifted this past week. Still, people—concertgoers, especially—appear hyped. As we file into Michelob Ultra Arena (né Mandalay Bay Events Center), I spot one Tyler, the Creator fan in an outfit inspired by the rapper’s Tyler Baudelaire character, ushanka hat, shorts and all. As we learned during Tyler's groundbreaking Igor era—featuring tailored suits and a bleach-blond wig—now the hip-hop star likes to create personas. And it's fun to watch fans play along.
2. Tyler's opening acts prove he's very much in touch with his multi-generational fanbase. The strange and alluring Teezo Touchdown, whose subversive rap-rock is almost as interesting as his nail hair, captivates younger fans. Long Beach rapper Vince Staples presents laidback Cali flows you'd expect at a family cookout. And then there's R&B singer Kali Uchis, for whom the building erupts into a chant. I don't realize the magnitude of her popularity until I find out folks in my row bought tickets specifically to see her (and left right after she finished).
Five minutes into her set, I understand why they paid $130 just to see her. Kali Uchis fully owns her space. She's light on her feet and hypnotic in how she moves. The bass drowns out some of her vocals, but you almost don't need them. Her dancers take on an interpretive role, driving the lyrics with their movements. It reminds me of a music visualizer, only instead of vibrant wavelengths representing the peaks and dips of a song, it's these lithe, limber bodies doing the work. The celestial singer blows kisses on the way out, and I half-expect folks to begin chanting for an encore.
3. Tyler is a master of his mise en scène. Arena lights go dark, and a video of a lush green landscape surrounded by water appears on the ultra-wide screen by the stage. Tyler’s “Sir Baudelaire” intro begins as the rapper—outfitted in a leopard-print shirt and ushanka hat—ascends in a Tiffany-blue Rolls Royce raised from the ground. He’s the portrait of swag. The video screen raises to reveal a teal mansion set, and there’s no mistaking, this is Tyler’s house now. The rapper dives straight into “Corso,” jumping as fireworks burst all around him. Everyone in the arena hops to their feet. A group in the GA section even begins moshing.
"This a ill set up, right?” Tyler gestures to the house. “You like my car? You know what kind of car that is?” he asks the front row. “No? Here let me remind you.”
"Rolls Royce pull up/Black boy hop out," he raps the opening lines to "Lumberjack.” During the song, Tyler takes his luggage from the car, suggesting he plans to stay a while. It's a clever and beautifully executed bit of world building, and Tyler takes it farther when he sets sail in a boat during "Wusyaname."
In past festival sets, Tyler's boat has remained stationary, but here, it rocks and propels itself toward an overgrown dock in the middle of the arena. Tyler raps from his plush seat, surrounded by singing fans who know all the words. Everyone's a part of the theatrics now. We're all supporting characters in this show.
4. Tyler sounds his most stripped-down and raw on the dock. Whereas before we witnessed a relaxed and vacation-mode Tyler, here we experience his spectrum of deeply seated emotions. We feel the love and admiration in “See You Again.” The rapper even ends the song on a tender a capella note. And we feel the soreness and the pain on “IFHY,” as Tyler spits out the lyrics “I f*cking hate you/But I love you.”
I do wish the rapper utilized his opening acts more, though. The studio version of “See You Again” features vocals from Kali Uchis, yet she's absent from the song's performance tonight. The same goes for “RunItUp,” featuring Teezo Touchdown. It would have been nice to see these stars align.
5. The final stretch of the show might be my favorite. Flames ignite all around Tyler on “Who Dat Boy,” which thrusts the crowd into an arena-size discotheque. During “I Think,” concert cameras zoom in on the star dancing and skating across the stage with fancy footwork. It’s incredible to see a 12,000-strong arena matching such energy, song for song. Tyler feeds off of it, throwing everything he has into “New Magic Wand” until he’s crumpled on the floor. This is what live music is truly all about.
As we near the end, Tyler retrieves his luggage. “Las Vegas, thank you,” he says, turning toward the house. “Get home safe, aight?”
He heads inside, shuts the door and we're left picking our jaws up off the floor.
Setlist:
“Sir Baudelaire”
“Corso”
“Lemonhead”
“Hot Wind Blows”
“Lumberjack”
“Massa”
“Wusyaname”
“Boredom”
“911”
“See You Again”
“IFHY”
“She”
“Yonkers”
“Bummer”
“Tamale”
“I Thought You Wanted to Dance”
“Who Dat Boy”
“I Think”
“Earfquake”
“New Magic Wand”
“RunItUp”
