You Should Be Here Tour: Kehlani w/ Pel
I first found out about Kehlani through a friend who knew her, as I was clicking through Soundcloud reposts. As soon as I heard a song called “Get Away” from her mixtape called Cloud 19 I instantly fell in love. The production, her sassy and clever lyrics combined with her sensual and smooth voice instantly told me that she was going to be big, a prediction I made right as her most recent mixtape, You Should Be Here, begun to get attention in the industry. When I heard she was headlining her first tour, I hopped on the tickets for her concert in Chicago on July 7th at Lincoln Hall (which happened to be the tour’s opening night) almost instantly and was lucky enough to be one of the few that was able to get her $40 meet and greet passes.
To start off, her meet and greet was actually a lot of fun! She was incredibly charismatic and connected with every guest in a unique way. As I walked up to meet her, “Goodies” by Ciara begun blasting in the venue, prompting both of us to turn up together and then instantly start laughing at the fact that we both had on the same Timberland boots. After a hectic rush to the stage and about an hour of waiting, Lani’s opener Pell performed, whom I wasn’t very familiar with besides one song I liked, “The Never.” In all honesty he put on a good performance, but what made the experience sort of awkward was the fact that the crowd seemed to not really be feeling him, all wanting one thing: Kehlani to hit the stage.
After Pell wrapped his set, Kehlani took the stage dramatically, sporting a black jacket
with the words “You Should Be Here” written on the back as she performed the song “You
Should Be Here.” Throughout the first half of her set, Kehlani simply killed it. From the complex choreography that perfectly encapsulated each song to her impressive live vocals, Lani kept the crowd singing every word of each song, prompting more than a few audience members to start crying. About halfway through the concert, Lani randomly left the stage. After some confusion in the crowd, the lights almost instantly begun to go crazy, and Chance the Rapper as well as the rest of Savemoney took the stage for a surprise performance of “Good Ass Intro.” This was an event that wasn’t a complete surprise to the audience, given that Kehlani’s hit single off of You Should Be Here, titled “The Way” features Chance, and after all it was opening night in Chicago.