SZA Brings Out Cardi B and Phoebe Bridgers at Dazzling, Hit-Filled Madison Square Garden Show: Concert Review
variety.comSZA made a huge splash with her hits-filled, nautically themed “SOS” tour concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday would be a conceptually on-message but drastically understated statement: She performed 32 songs on a wildly elaborate seaside-themed stage that included a giant fake fishing boat, a dinghy that soared above the crowd and a lighthouse, brought out two fellow queens — rapper Cardi B and indie-rock titan Phoebe Bridgers, within 10 minutes of each other, no less — and played a crowd-pleasing, nearly two-hour-long set that had the audience out of their seats and singing along for virtually the entire show.
The concert had a loose shipwreck storyline (“SOS,” get it?) — beginning with her sitting on a diving board like she is on the cover of “SOS,” progressing to a dockside, the boat, the dinghy, an aquarium and concluding back on the diving board — that was accompanied by scenes of a beautiful ocean, a star-filled sky and Pixar-like underwater imagery on the giant video screens on the stage.
The show was so visually dazzling that it concluded with a giant cinematic “The End” on the screens and — in a classy, generous move that every major concert should employ from now on — actual closing credits, from the bandmembers to the dancers and choreographers to the technicians and truck drivers.
A post shared by Jem Aswad (@jemaswad) After a rousing opening set from Omar Apollo that primed the crowd, the concert was centered on the 23-track “SOS” — which has logged 10 weeks at No.
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