Grammy Award-winning rapper Donald Glover, known by his project name Childish Gambino, took the stage last Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena for the Pittsburgh stop of “The New World Tour” in support of his latest album, “Bando Stone & the New World.”
The rapper announced in April that the album would be the final release under the Childish Gambino project. Glover claimed his retirement will allow him to focus more energy into his acting and producing endeavors.
But, as the saying goes, it’s not over until it’s over. Until then, the multi-hyphenate star is pulling out every stop to make Glover’s farewell as memorable as possible.
Preceding the artist’s 29-song headlining set, opening act WILLOW warmed the crowd up with the likes of “Meet Me at Our Spot” and “Transparent Soul.”
A wave of confusion swept the crowd once WILLOW’s set concluded. In her place, sporadic clangs of construction punctuated the crowd’s murmurs. Rather than filling the intermediary time with a pre-show playlist like many other artists, dull thuds occasionally followed by a shrieking whirr blasted about the arena. Glover seemingly banked on his own magnetism to revive the crowd upon his entrance to the stage.
Adorned in a pseudo-space suit, Glover threw the general admission section into a frenzy to reposition themselves for a clear view after appearing almost out of thin air on the B stage. LED lights flashed, feeding the rapper’s space suit with a performative charge and pulsing with the beat of “H3@RT$ W3RE M3@NT T0 F7¥.”
Though Glover warned the audience to avoid placing themselves in the way of lasers during the show as he walked the stretch between the B stage and the main stage, the only other rule was for the masses to “Have a good f—ing time.”
While many concertgoers have identified the mindblowing athleticism of Taylor Swift as the keystone of the Eras tour’s success, Glover’s vocals acted as an accompaniment to his production crew’s technical feats.
Senior marketing and accounting major Jack Wagner highlighted the light design as the center point of the show’s visual component, describing it as “strings of lights forming a matrix that project[ed] a 3D image of [Glover’s] face or words or patterns that enhanced the vibe of the show, and that could be seen from anywhere in the crowd.”
“He succeeded on all fronts,” Wagner said. “It was something that I’d never seen before, and who knows when I’ll get to see something like it again, was a sadder way to think about it.”
Glover seemingly shared Wagner’s nostalgia — though preemptive — and took a reflective tone at times during his set. The rapper dedicated “A Place Where Love Goes” to all the lovers in the audience, while at another point he called out, “The point of life is to be happy, isn’t it?” before launching into “In the Summer.”
While understandingly sentimental, Glover refused to let his imminent retirement overshadow the night.
Glover began goading the crowd, encouraging them to outdo Toronto in terms of energy. He employed distraction after distraction so that he could fool everyone once more with a second surprise appearance on the B stage, where he launched into “Me and Your Mama.”
“Y’all ain’t real fans,” said Glover, taunting the audience to match his own frenetic energy. He’d spent weeks teasing early looks of what was in store, even revealing the “LIGHT-BINDER” to his loyal Instagram followers on Aug. 17.
Glover barrelled toward the end, performing a medley of shortened versions of his biggest hits. Though the floor shook with “Bonfire,” it was “Redbone” — the rapper’s single with over a billion streams on Spotify — that brought the crowd to its knees.
“To some extent, it was almost emotional because there is a chance that I might never get to see him again,” said Wagner. “It was definitely something special, and it’s a memory that I will cherish for years.”