November 12th, 2021
I bought SG Lewis tickets on an impulse. None of my friends really listened to his music so this was my first solo concert! I arrived late which I don’t usually do. Since I was attending this concert alone, I was weirdly nervous but also relaxed. MPHD, a dj, was opening. The music, although monotonous, carried a great happy but Brave New World vibe. Although I thought MPHD lacked stage presence, I’m not sure if this is just how house concerts are or if my judgment was fair. I don’t really have a bar for what stage presence looks like for DJs. There were a few moments when he was able to captivate the crowd. He kinda gave awkward boy vibes. It was chill.
Then SG Lewis started playing at around 9:20 PM. I remember because I was starting to get tired. I had been waking up at 4 am that week due to work commitments and 9 pm has become my bedtime. *throws up*
When he came out I didn’t really know what to expect. It felt like a three-person band. A person on drums, another person on keys and guitar or bass (sorry, I actually don’t know the difference), and SG Lewis on mixing, vocals and guitar. At first, I was like ‘oh! He’s gonna stay on the podium the whole time?’
For more context, I’ve only been to rap concerts where rappers will try to hype the crowd and like to be jumping on the stage and be out of breath while rapping. The bar for male rappers is kinda low but this is a topic for later. I must also say that this also was my first concert by myself so it was awkward. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to dance? I know it sounds dumb but I was also sober and way in my head.
Anyways, by the third or second song on the setlist, I was dancing. It also helped that SG Lewis really tried to have a stage presence and interact with the audience. He got off the podium and walked to both sides of the stage singing and playing his guitar at some point. Towards the end of the concert, he made everybody get low and made everybody jump at the climax of All We Have which really elevated the vibe and energy of the concert. He also made sure to honor longtime fans by playing older music such as Sunsets pt1 and pt2, Yours and Warm. He ended the concert with a bang by playing Chemicals.
I was looking forward to One More so much I forgot how much of a banger Chemicals is. I didn’t stay for the encore and I also lowkey didn’t know the song so I ended up dipping after chemicals.
Overall, it was a great concert and honestly, I might have to go to more house concerts. I sat in GA so I had a lot of space for dancing but also it feels awk when people next to you are not dancing. But if you are in the mood, it can definitely feel like being in a club without people grabbing you nonconsensually. Great feeling if you are a woman. I might have to try to get tickets to be in the front row/pit area next time. Those people looked like they were having a blast!