Bay Area Super Duper KYLE fans took a trip to the moon during the 25-year-old’s latest world tour “Lightspeed” at The Warfield theater Friday, Nov. 16.
The “iSpy” breakout artist kept the stage lit up as the tour name anticipated. From a voice-activated robot that co-hosted the show, to beaming lights that reminded one of outer space, even the dancers accessorized their speedy moves with astronaut-inspired jumpsuits and neon shoes.
The first act to open the show was Caroline Grace, a 22-year-old R&B-inspired pop artist and recent graduate from the University of Southern California. The young artist performed various songs from her upcoming EP, such as “Bad Behavior,” “Leave My Heart Alone” and “Just Friends.” Sticking with the theme of outer space, Grace rocked a pair of “out of this world” glittery flare pants and a mesh top bedazzled with gems that resembled stars.
Keeping the crowd at a constant hype, the next act, Tobi Lou, came out right on time and for many of the fans in the Bay Area, his songs were already a hit. The young SoundCloud rapper from Chicago made a name for himself in the rap community with his “magical” approach to the often masculine genre with cartoons and whimsical branding.
Lou lit up the stage with a funky haircut dyed blonde and in four styled buns, while keeping the outer space theme in mind with glittered basketball shorts and his well-known star stickers all over his face. Lou kept the ambiance of the room positive with songs such as “Just Keep Goin’,” and upbeat with songs like “Buff Baby.”
Next up on the stage was San Francisco’s very own musical artist, Marc E. Bassy. Not new at all to the spotlight scene, the 31-year-old’s soft vocals were up to par as he performed songs from various albums, including “Morning” from “Groovy People” and his first hit single “You & Me,” featuring G-Eazy.
The artist shared his gratitude for San Francisco as the first city to bump “You & Me” across radio stations in the Bay Area and even debuted an exclusive love song written and produced while on the “Lightspeed” bus. In the song, Bassy sings, “If I wasn’t made for you, how do you explain us?”
Bassy is set to perform again at Wild 94.9’s Jingle Ball concert alongside Calvin Harris, 5 Seconds of Summer, Khalid and several other artists at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in downtown San Francisco on Dec. 1.
After the opening acts, KYLE finally made his way on stage, with a spaceship inspired countdown. The young rapper set a playful mood as he appeared at the top of a large, clear box used as a prop from center stage to capture the audience’s attention.
He opened up with the first song off his latest album “Light of Mine,” titled “Ups and Downs,” and played numerous classics that he said his “day one KYLE fans” should know from way back in the day, such as “SUPERDUPERKYLE” and “Sex & Super Smash Bros.” from his first album “Beautiful Loser.” KYLE is highly known for his “smyle” and shared how the only thing he hopes for the end of the night is that everyone leaves with a smyle.
KYLE made sure to include his smash radio hits such as “iSpy” featuring Lil Yachty and “Playinwitme” featuring Kehlani. Getting intimate with the crowd, the rapper even shared the story of his first time having sex and how 16-year-old KYLE initiated it over Facebook direct messages and rode his scooter all the way to the girl’s house — sharing the epitome of “shooting your shot” in this new generation.
The artist even paid tribute to his character, Young O, in the Netflix original film “The After Party,” after the crowd continuously chanted “SeejzahBoy.”
This show had to be one of the most well-organized shows I’ve been to, with every act starting right on time and never a second of silence in the room. The props, gimmicks and wardrobe all perfectly matched the vibe of the tour. The concert got so wild that one of the dancers had a nip-slip during the final songs from the constant jumping she had to do to keep up with the energy in the room. My boyfriend and I had our fair share of excitement after having an entire water bottle dumped over our heads.
Before the venue lights came back on, KYLE left a message for all his fans plastered across the screen on stage.
It read, “nobody’s a no-one.”
