“I told y’all I would come back but I had to come back with a motherf***in Grammy yo!” Anderson .Paak belted to the crowd inside of New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. On Friday (Feb. 22), the musician was elated to return to New York for his Andy’s Beach Club World Tour with opening act Tayla Parx and his band, the Free Nationals. His energy has unsurprisingly remained on a thrilling high since taking home his first Grammy just three weeks ago.
The Cali native was a breath of fresh air for the crowd in attendance, who after a long work week was ready to hear some tunes from his stellar albums Venice, Malibu and his recent musical offering, Oxnard.
.Paak was that jukebox for the crowd, with select bubbly tunes from Parx, who just like her main act, has a funky vibe to herself. Parx, an artist who most recently wrote on Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next” as she told the crowd got the energy bubbling with known covers and performances of her songs like, “Mama Aint Raise No B****.” Parx set up the funky vibes that .Paak would go on to later execute and perfect.
The musician jumped out on stage an hour and a half later and started his heading set with the song, “Bubblin” that earned him a Best Rap Performance Grammy.
From the jump, his megawatt smile peaked under his red bucket hat as he performed more deserving tunes like “Tints,” “Trippy” and “Come Down.”
His bliss of just being in the moment was abundantly clear as well as his chemistry with the Free Nationals. He danced along to their song “Beauty & Essex” featuring Daniel Caesar, grooving to the smooth beat while transitioning to “Saviers Road.”
There was not a moment in the night that skilled drummer wasn’t in tune with the crowd. At one point, he even crowd surfed, calling out New Jersey natives to catch him. Because of his old soul, the musician easily crafted his flavor of soul and funk to keep body rolls going throughout the evening with cuts like “Smile/Petty” and “The Heart Don’t Stand a Chance.”
Although his drum solos showed off his musical talent and capabilities, .Paak’s tribute to late rapper, Mac Miller with a performance of their song “Dang!” towards the end of the concert is what really sealed the deal.
“If you miss Mac Miller like we miss Mac Miller make some f***ing noise! Say we love you Mac, say we miss you Mac,” the Oxnard musician urged the crowd to yell, and the crowd obediently obliged.
Seeing the crowd and .Paak arrived in sync one last time for Miller was the finishing touch for the concert. Although .Paak’s crowd demo was young working adults, they won’t forget the moment they shed their corporate garb to be a little weird and carefree again.
