LIKE MANY other Roseland concertgoers, I didn’t really know what to expect from the Aminé show last night. Upon arriving, my friends and I confided in each other that we weren’t familiar with much of the Portland rapper’s catalog, other than (obviously) his viral hit “Caroline.” The wildly popular song was presumably the core cause of the show’s relocation (from the Hawthorne to the Wonder to the Roseland), and its sellout. Because of the venue changes, the will call/press list line took quite a bit of time to get through. Despite this, the show got started very promptly; many people were still waiting in line while The Last Artful, Dodgr was doing her set. I’ve already seen Dodgr countless times, so when I heard she killed it, I had no doubts.
I also want to add that Aminé’s other opener, DJ Superbrick from Los Angeles, was fantastic. Not only did he choose a great mix of hip-hop, trap, and deep R&B cuts like “No Scrubs” and “Ignition,” but he also did some super satisfying mashups of songs off Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Superbrick was a star in his own right, and did exactly what a great DJ is supposed to do: He got everyone sufficiently excited, warmed up, dancing, and ready for “that nigga”: Aminé.
When Aminé came out we got to behold a sick backdrop, an ongoing slew of on-brand digital graphics: simple text reading “PORTLAND” on top of bright yellow, an animation of the rapper’s face, and his signature plethora of bananas. His set was made up of mostly new tracks, but when he performed songs like “Baba” it was clear from the all-ages floor that the chillens knew the lyrics, and were paying attention to more than just Aminé’s “Caroline.”
And since I was on a social media cleanse, I was probably one of the only people in the building who wasn’t emotionally prepared for special guests. Out of nowhere, Leon Bridges came on stage with a guitar and sang some acoustic renditions of his bluesy soul songs.
While the set was sort of out of place and brought the energy down a bit, it was still awesome to hear his beautiful voice live unexpectedly. I’ll definitely want to see one of his sets again sometime soon—perhaps in an outdoor setting this summer.
The other surprise guest of the night was none other than the rising star and Oakland R&B singer Kehlani. If I had been on Twitter or SnapChat or anything, I would have known she was in town and heard the rumors she would be performing. But as I said before, I was on a cleanse. My friend—a fellow Kehlani stan—turned to me about five minutes before K would come on. “Kehlani’s going to perform,” she said.
I. WASN’T. READY.
Okay, I knew that Kehlani fucked with “Caroline” (because I follow her on SnapChat), but I didn’t know they were tight enough that she’d come to Portland just to play his homecoming show! Since I saw her at Bumbershoot a couple years ago, I knew she could really sing and had a cult-like following, so that made me all the more excited for her to come out. When she came on stage in an adorably perfect outfit made up of overalls, sneakers, and a yellow long sleeve tee, the crowd went nuts. She proceeded to sing “The Way,” her collaboration track which features Chance the Rapper, and then a couple newer singles: “Distraction,” and “Crazy,” which come off her forthcoming album Sweet Sexy Savage. To be perfectly honest, those three songs were the most lit section of the whole show. Such a treat.
When the time finally came for Aminé to perform “Caroline,” it was almost hard to recognize the song because it was the chilled out acoustic version similar to what he performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. After a couple verses he sped it up into the recorded version we all know and love. The crowd, of course, knew every single word. After the song appeared to have ended, Aminé really dragged it out and led us in chanting the song’s lyrics in their entirety, in unison, a cappella. “We could do this all night,” he said.
While that was all great and fun, it’s one of those times where it becomes glaring that a lot of us wish we could go to a concert and just listen to an artist perform their own songs. I’m sure it’s super neat for up and coming artists to hear massive crowds recite their lyrics, but many came with the desire to hear "Caroline" live, not so we could shout-sing it ourselves. We already do that regularly in the comfort of our own apartments; that’s what makes attending the show special. That being said, it’s safe to say Portland had a great time, got their money’s worth, and will show out for Aminé again in the future.
