Last night SZA took the stage with Risky Star and Joyya Marie for the first night of Portland’s Soul’d Out Festival. The (literally) sold-out show packed the Wonder Ballroom a full hour before local soul singer and emcee Risky Star started performing. He played just a couple of infectious tracks with a full band before hyping up the audience for Joyya Marie. I was floored—I’d never heard of Marie before, but the Portland R&B singer’s voice completely hypnotized the massive audience. She commanded the stage so gracefully, performing acrobatic, jazzy vocals with ease. The crowd went wild when SZA came out, singing along to every lyric of tracks like “Babylon” and “Julia” off her 2014 release, Z. The chillwave/alternative hip-hop artist teased her forthcoming album, A, and sent an electric current through the audience when she starting singing “Consideration,” her collaboration with Rihanna on the pop star’s newest album, Anti. At one point during the song her band stopped playing, which put her soaring vocals front-and-center. SZA’s energy was vibrantly contagious—she bounced around the stage, clearly having just as much fun as her fans.
More photos after the jump!
SZA
JOYYA MARIE
RISKY STAR
Nice write up! It was a great show. However, SZA didn’t sing ‘Julia’ in that set. It was one of two options she gave the crowd for her encore, choosing to go instead with ‘teen spirit’