As soon as SZA announced she was going on tour, I knew I had to go.
SZA, who is an R&B artist, has gained popularity recently. Her album “Ctrl” put her on the map, so when her newest album “SOS” dropped, fans went crazy. Some songs like “Kill Bill”, “Seek & Destroy”, and “Low” made this album unforgettable.
The “SOS” stadium tour is SZA’s first arena tour ever. She is accompanied by Omar Apollo, who is known for his song “Evergreen ”. This stadium tour consists of 17 stops across the United States and Canada. Making her first appearance in Columbus, me and SZA fan Izzy Scott decided to go. We purchased tickets back in December; however, the concert wasn’t until Feb. 21. Since Columbus was the first stop, Izzy and I were unsure of what to expect. Over the several weeks before, we prepared our outfits and booked a hotel room. The day of the concert, we anxiously awaited and made predictions on what we thought was going to happen.
My predictions were as follows.
1.) She would open with ‘SOS’ and go straight into “Kill Bill”.
2.) She would play some of her songs from “Ctrl”.
3.) Travis Scott would make a guest appearance.
Unfortunately, only one of my predictions was correct. Sza played multiple songs from her “Ctrl” album, which many fans (including me) were hoping for. I was fairly disappointed that Travis Scott did not make an appearance; however, I figured that he wouldn’t since Columbus is far from L.A. and not a popular destination for special guests. I was also disappointed by the fact that she didn’t play my favorite song off of the “SOS” album, which is “Far”. While this doesn’t have to do with the performance, there was a large speaker that blocked our view of the last song.
While there were some disappointments, the concert was amazing overall. SZA put on quite the performance with multiple outfit changes and stage changes. Throughout the show, she had about four different scenes. The first was the iconic diving board/dock (which is part of the album cover for “SOS”), the second was a boat that covered nearly the whole stage, the third was a floating life boat, and the fourth was a huge anchor. While SZA was incredible, I also thought that Omar Apollo put on an amazing performance. Apollo was very entertaining to watch and I heard some of his songs that I had never heard before. He was the only one on stage, but his stage presence was beautiful and captivating. SZA’s vocals were incredible and sounded exactly like her recorded voice.
Overall, I would definitely say the SZA concert was worth it. Her performance was amazing, not to mention the other fans. Most of the fans brought such a good vibe to the show. Everyone was dancing and singing along, and I never once felt unsafe. Enjoying music with like minded people is such a surreal feeling. The concert was worth every penny and is definitely one of the best concerts I’ve been to. I’m looking forward to seeing how this tour boosts SZA’s career and if she will continue to wow the rest of her fans who are going to see the show.