A fog hangs in the air. A thin layer of condensation coats the venue, and the ceiling drips as concert goers file out. The checkered linoleum is littered with cans, shoes, popcorn and assorted detritus. This is the aftermath of Lil Yachty’s stop at The Ritz.
Nick Hakim, who appears on Yachty’s new album, opened the concert and played soulful indie rock music that sharply contrasted with the rap elements of the concert.
Kris Owens and a team of engineers mixed the show.
“Lil Yachty is fun mixing because it’s a mixture of the rock and roll and a hip hop set,” Owens said. “[The set] is definitely inspired by ‘70s, ‘80s rock era, … trippy type stuff, open your mind’s eye, that third eye.”
The set opened with a series of flashing images telling audience members to “unlock potential” and “open your third eye,” backed by swelling, mantra-like drones.
Yachty broke into songs from his new album, “Let’s Start Here,” which puts his autotuned R&B vocals over a funky ‘70s backdrop.
The all-woman band backing Lil Yachty often took the reins, weaving tapestries of searing vocal and guitar solos with funky driving basslines mixed to perfection in the two-story Ritz theater. The tone of the guitar matched the R&B phrasing of Yachty’s vocals, dancing back and forth.
Yachty’s band played a cover of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” and littered the set with funky motifs.
The show alternated between the soulful, trippy rock and Yachty’s deep cuts and hits. The band dropped out for a wardrobe change, and Yachty delivered a raging rap show. He played songs from 2016, when his career started to take off, and thanked his longtime fans, prodding the crowd into a frenzy with songs like “Minnesota” and “One Night.”
The young crowd moshed and jostled the theater into a sauna up front. Concert goers had to be crowd surfed out of the center or pulled out of the front by security, where they would pass out or grab water to cool off.
Ryan Slaga, a long-time Yachty fan who found his way up to the front, sat on the steps after the show, taking in the experience.
“I was right up front on the barrier,” Slaga said. “I was getting smushed from the back, but it was definitely the best spot to watch, for sure. It was worth it.”
Security, the sound engineers and the barbacks helped make Lil Yachty’s show a throwback experience that referenced both the beginning of his career and the roots of his inspiration.
