The long-awaited SZA tour for her sophomore album, “SOS,” kickstarted on February 21, in Columbus at the Schottenstein Center. Let’s take a deeper dive into what happened for those who couldn’t attend.
First, Omar Apollo took the stage around 8 p.m. and opened for SZA with his song “Useless.” This was Omar’s first performance in an arena. He played 11 songs in the span of 30-40 minutes. After his first song, he played several songs from his newest album, “Ivory.” Then, he played “3 Boys,” his latest song, for the first time ever. When he performed his most viral song “Evergreen,” the crowd went wild. He set the perfect mood for when SZA would perform.
When SZA took the stage, she opened by recreating her album cover, which she got inspiration from Princess Diana sitting on a diving board. A screen lifted to reveal SZA sitting on the diving board. The CGI surrounded SZA with waves as she was on the diving board, and she opened with “PSA,” an unreleased track that was rumored to be on “SOS.” After she played her first song of the night, the screen closed again. The CGI then displayed a visual of SZA jumping from the diving board into the water and the opening credits rolled.
After the credits, the screen opened again to the song “Seek and Destroy.” SZA danced along with four dancers to a stringent choreography. Then she performed “Notice Me” and “Conceited.” The audience responded with high energy, singing and dancing alongside. The next couple of songs she performed were off her first album, “Ctrl.” She played “Love Galore” and “Broken Clocks.”
After a costume change, SZA starts to perform her song “Supermodel” off of “Ctrl” as a lifeboat ascends down. In the middle of singing, she hops into the lifeboat in her yellow dress with a bucket of flower petals. As she performs “Nobody Gets Me,” she throws the petals to the crowd below her.
SZA’s last song was “Good Days,” her hit single released in 2020. She returned to the diving board but instead of bright blue waves, the CGI projected a sunset with water. As the song came closer to the end, the screen turned darker as a beautiful moon appeared which later turned into a dark blue sky filled with stars. While the ending credits rolled and the screen lowered to end the concert, SZA waved to fans. After her performance, she encouraged the audience to stay by teasing her newest music video for her song “Low,” a smart marketing move from SZA’s team. Fans also rushed back to the merch table to see what else they could snag before leaving.
SZA’s storytelling throughout her first arena performance was utterly breathtaking. The way she incorporated the motif of waves from her album cover into a complete storyline is astonishing, along with the smooth transitions between songs. For example, when the CGI projected the ship was sinking after her “Low” performance, SZA then proceeds to get in a lifeboat and float around in the air to sing some of her most emotional songs. If you weren’t able to get tickets, I highly recommend you start saving money to see her in the future.
