G-Eazy – Roy Wilkins Auditorium – St. Paul MN – March 7th 2018

G-Eazy – The Beautiful & Damned Tour – The Legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium – St. Paul, MN – March 8, 2018

G-Eazy’s The Beautiful & Damned Tour came to Minnesota Thursday night, which meant the city of Saint Paul was in for a treat. The tour is focused on his latest album, The Beautiful & Damned. To be completely honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting myself into. The name G-Eazy was familiar to me, but I didn’t know much of his music. I’m typically more of a Golden Age Hip Hop fan, but I needed to see what the buzz around G-Eazy was all about. Once the concert was over, I completely understood.

As the photographers were led into the pit, I looked around and was amazed at the completely packed auditorium. Fans were screaming for G-Eazy and chanting his given name, Gerald. The show started with “Act I: The Beautiful” projected on the stage. Everyone went ballistic. G-Eazy entered the stage dressed in black with a leather jacket and slicked-back hair. It was show time.

He started his set with songs from his new album and a couple from his previous records. The whole place was bumpin’. Girls were screaming, fans were singing, hands were waving, people were jumping. This wasn’t your typical performance, this was a full blown party. G-Eazy expressed his love for Minnesota and told a story from when he played at 7th Street Entry in First Avenue 5 years ago. He spoke of how Minnesota never failed to bring the energy, regardless of the venue or size of the show. The audience reacted accordingly.

As fans illuminated the venue with their phones and lighters, Act I was wrapping up. G-Eazy left the stage. Shortly after, “Act II: The Damned” was projected on onto the backdrop. The Bay-Area rapper reappeared on stage in all white with a jacket that read “Damned” on the back. The place went nuts.

G-Eazy put on one hell of a performance. Even though I didn’t know most of the songs, I caught my self moving to the music and bobbing my head to the beat. The energy was contagious. He definitely exceeded my expectations.

On top of the great performance, the production design was on point. The lights, projections and overall design really brought his music to life. Almost half-way through the set, it was revealed that his drummer and DJ were inside of the boxes they were projecting video onto. At first I wasn’t sure if it was real or not, but it was definitely a nice touch to an already amazing set.

Overall, it was an outstanding show. The energy was fantastic, G-Eazy’s performance was great and the environment was phenomenal.

Review and photos By John Pesavent