Khalid Free Spirit World Tour
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
July 14, 2019
Review and Photography by Thomas Rosas
When you think of R&B or Pop you generally don’t think of El Paso, TX. Typically El Paso brings to mind the Rio Grande, Fort Bliss and the Sun Bowl. Well, you can now add multi-platinum R&B recording artist Khalid to that list.
The five-time Grammy nominee brought his Free Spirit World Tour through the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX this past Sunday. Although still fairly new to the music scene the young multi-platinum artist was greeted by a near-sellout crowd and thunderous chants of “Khalid.” From the start of the first song, “Free Spirit,” and for each song that followed, the devoted fans sang along to each lyric that at times appeared to overtake Khalid’s own vocals.
Many pop artists attempt to captivate their audience with glamorous props, over-the-top lighting, pyrotechnics, and enough dancers and back up singers to fill an entire school bus. Khalid was just the opposite. As a true artist, he relied on his impeccable vocal abilities to gather the attention of his fans. He moved along a vast stage before a large screen that occasionally featured graphic animations, CGI dancers and video clips of himself. There were actually a few moments on the screen that had a bit of an Andy Warhol feel to the show. On each side of the stage, he was accompanied by four truly talented musicians that provided a dance-inspiring groove for the audience to move to. On several occasions, he shared the stage with six dancers that proved their ability to stay in perfect sync with one another all while still giving Khalid center stage.
About midway through his set, thin strands of curtains surrounded Khalid as he sat alone on a stool center stage and performed several slower songs from “Coaster,” “Intro,” and “Paradise.” Despite the slow tempo, the audience remained engaged. As the dancers slowly made their way back onto the stage during the performance of “Self,” the audience erupted as the keyboards began to play the first few notes of his hit single “Talk.”
Audience participation soon followed when Khalid brought a few fans on stage during the song “Young Dumb and Broke,” which ended with a memorable group selfie.
After an inspiring performance and a setlist that included 18 songs from his debut album American Teen and sophomore album Free Spirit, the concert ended with a slightly up-tempo version of “Saturday Nights.”
It’s hard to believe that just three short years ago a teenage kid from El Paso who used SoundCloud as an outlet to share his music would soon be touring the world as one of today’s biggest musical artists. After Sunday’s performance, I can see why. Khalid is a true artist with a great ability to write and perform music that resonates with all different types of people. Most importantly in an industry where “musicians” rely so much on technology to aide in their singing, Khalid’s true voice works its way through the microphone giving the audience a true representation of his talents.
KHALID PHOTO GALLERY
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Set List: 1. Free Spirit; 2. 8TEEN; 3. Twenty One; 4. Hundred; 5. Saved; 6. My Bad; 7. Bad Luck; 8. Bluffin’; 9. Vertigo; 10. Motion; 11. Better; 12. Right Back; 13. Location; 14. Silence; 15. American Teen; 16. Another Sad Love Song; 17. Coaster; 18. Intro; 19. Angels; 20. Alive; 21. Paradise; 22. Self; 23. Talk; 24. Outta My Head; 25. Young Dumb & Broke; 26. Eastside; 27 Love Lies; 28. OTW; 29. Saturday Nights
About the Photographer
