Bryson Tiller was back in Toronto at History for the latest stop on his new tour. Here’s Kevin Bourne with his Bryson Tiller tour review.
Last night, Bryson Tiller brought his Back On Tour to History in Toronto as he performed in front of a packed house. It was Bryson Tiller’s fourth time performing in Toronto this year after back-to-back shows in and opening for NAV in April, and with a dedicated and passionate fan based, there was energy in the air.
Before he hit the stage, DJ Nitrane got fans going with his crowd engagement and a succession of hits that got the crowd belting out at the top of their lungs.
Tiller then performed songs from his vast catalogue, going back to his 2015 debut album TRAPSOUL, including “Rambo: (Last Blood)”, “Exchange” and “Been That Way”, to singles like “Canceled” and “Blame”, and covers of hits from other artists, including Drake’s “Finesse”. He also performed some of his big features, including “Wild Thoughts”, obviously without Rihanna and DJ Khaled.
The lighting unfortunately took away from the show at certain points. With no lighting in the front of the stage, it was a bit difficult to take in the experience at times. The set design was also fairly minimalist, although the arcade game machine off to the side were a nice touch. Still, Tiller made up for it with good crowd engagement and solid vocals. He even told some fans in the front that they were beautiful. You get the sense that he really cares about his fans which is why he has such a passionate fanbase. Although he’s a star, he’s personable and humble, which explains why he’s been able to build a consistent fanbase over his career so far. He even took some time to talk about his come up. He recalled wanting to remove his song “Don’t” from SoundCloud. After a friend convinced him to keep the song on SoundCloud, he blew up and the rest is history.
Overall, between the crowd and Tiller himself, there was an energy you wouldn’t expect from an R&B and Soul show which made for a dope show.
Written with notes from Elizabeth Clarke
Kevin Bourne is SHIFTER’s Toronto-based editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter focusing on Black music and film & TV. He was named one of 310 international voters for the 81st Golden Globe Awards by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and a Tomatometer-Approved Critic by Rotten Tomatoes.
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