Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Tyler, The Creator at Fiserv Forum
Some people ride the waves of momentum. Tyler, The Creator not only makes his, but takes a boat over them.
When his Call Me If You Get Lost tour took over Fiserv Forum on Thursday night, it felt like a lesson in kinetic energy, as he, along with singer Kali Uchis, rapper Vince Staples and Teezo Touchdown each took the stage. The individual acts all generated a unique buzz for themselves, setting their own unique tones during their respective sets.
The night began with Teezo Touchdown, who leaned into the visuals from his recent “Handyman” video, putting together a short set. A hybrid between hip hop and alternative, with a visual style that includes wearing nails in his hair, Touchdown felt like internet culture personified. It was over the top, and certainly awkward in comparison to the sets that followed, but it got a reaction from the younger contingent of the Fiserv Forum crowd.
Rapper Vince Staples then took to the auxiliary stage located on the opposite side of the arena floor. What would look like a straightforward hip hop set on the surface was elevated by Staples’ delivery, with a charisma that dominates. He would run through an album’s worth of hits, but could get the crowd hyped up instantly with every big track. Staples alternated between material from his 2021 self-titled album and his earlier breakouts, getting roars for each bass-drenched beat that dropped. 2017 track “Big Fish” and 2015’s “Norf Norf” would be part of the close to his set, and got the biggest reactions. He seemed genuinely appreciative for the response that Milwaukee gave him, and finished his set by walking through the aisle between stages, saying hello to fans all the way to the back.
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Kali Uchis at Fiserv Forum
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Kali Uchis at Fiserv Forum
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Vince Staples at Fiserv Forum
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Vince Staples at Fiserv Forum
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Vince Staples at Fiserv Forum
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Teezo Touchdown at Fiserv Forum
Kali Uchis has been releasing music for seven years at this point, but got the treatment of an emerging pop sensation on Thursday. The crowd was chanting her name before her portion of the night, and shrieks rang out throughout Fiserv Forum when the arena lights went down. The featured opening slot had a slower tempo than the previous acts, but may have been strategically placed to give the crowd some reprieve. Uchis would prowl about the main stage with a quartet of dancers in tow, with any suggestive movements getting a big response from the crowd. Uchis would tease the night’s main event by closing her set with “After The Storm,” a track that features Tyler, The Creator, which also happens to be one of her biggest hits. While the crowd cooled a bit towards the end of her time, they came back for that song, and were ready for the headliner.
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Tyler, The Creator at Fiserv Forum
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Tyler The Creator at Fiserv Forum
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Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Tyler, The Creator at Fiserv Forum
Tyler, The Creator has made top-notch songs and visuals a priority, and that was evident in the production that went into Thursday night’s show. The relatively minimal previous sets gave way to a two-story house on the main stage, and tall grass dressed to look like an island on the b-stage. An interlude from the Call Me If You Get Lost album welcomed Tyler on, complete with a vintage car and a chauffeur to help him to center stage. As album opener “Sir Baudelaire” rang out with big pyrotechnics, the boat that Tyler boasts about buying on the song emerged from under the set. He would later take that boat from one stage to the other, while hundreds of kids would rush to the other end of the open arena floor to come with him. It genuinely looked like a wake of followers moving behind Tyler’s boat, as he landed on his own island, in his own world.
In total, the headlining set lasted roughly 90 minutes, which on top of an already stacked bill, felt like a maximum effort from Tyler, The Creator. There was no filler, and minimal banter to the crowd, because it wasn’t really needed. He would spend a considerable amount of time in the middle of the show on the auxiliary stage, embracing having the crowd in the round clamoring to every angle. With six albums of material, many of which received great acclaim, the setlist was jam-packed with notable songs. On the b-stage, he joked that he would hyper-serve his longtime fans, and then proceeded to move into a medley of songs from 2011’s Goblin and 2013’s Wolf, at times interspersing verses and choruses from newer albums over the beat. It felt like the perfect mix of being meticulously crafted and at times entirely spontaneous, much like Tyler’s discography.
After a boat ride back to the main stage during “I Thought You Wanted To Dance,” complete with full voice singalongs from the crowd, Tyler would bring things home with five of his more recent big tracks. The high-energy “Who Dat Boy” came complete with a digital silhouette of featured rapper A$AP Rocky in one of the windows of the house during his verse, while mosh pits broke out on either side of the center aisle. That would give way to a dance party during “I Think” from 2019’s Igor, and back to the thrashing energy of “New Magic Wand.” The night ended with no encore following the uplifting “Runitup,” and frankly, there wasn’t much more that could be put into the evening.
Tyler, The Creator in recent years has been focused on delivering the complete package to his fans, and he very much did that on Thursday night. Even the most skeptical of concertgoers could have found something to takeaway from nearly four hours of music, which sent fans singing off into the night.
