Following the release of blue water road, Bay Area R&B artist Kehlani’s fourth album, earlier this year, the artist embarked on a 44-show tour across North America and Europe, including a stop at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. After being unable to get tickets to Harry Styles, my friends and I decided to fill the void and heal our wounds with tickets to Kehlani’s show, knowing that it would be a fun, summer night out.

Kehlani, who goes by the pronouns she/they, has been in the industry from a young age. Besides their time in the group PopLyfe, which finished in fourth place on season six of America’s Got Talent, Kehlani has been releasing music as a solo artist since their teenage years. Kehlani has since reached over 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify, won Billboard’s Women In Music Rulebreaker award and worked with an impressive range of musical peers, including Calvin Harris, Jhené Aiko, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber.

Despite listening to Kehlani’s music over the last five years, noting especially their true-to-the-title 2017 debut album, SweetSexySavage, in no way did I consider myself to be a true “stan,” nor had I heard of the tour’s opening acts. But in the weeks leading up to the show, I was full of excitement for the newness I was about to witness. These days it seems rare to get to experience music for the first time live, right before your eyes, and I knew I was about to do so.

Putting my own lack of experience listening to Kehlani’s entire catalogue aside, it was clear many others had been listening. The crowd in Toronto welcomed them with a sold-out 9,000-seat show to which Kehlani expressed being the “biggest show on the entire tour, besides [their] hometown.” Gratitude on full display, they added, “I don’t know what I did for y’all to love me so much.”

Ok, I think I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s rewind. The show began at 7:30 sharp with Kehlani’s long-time friend Destin Conrad. Dressed in all black, chucks included, Conrad’s sound took us not too far from artists like Daniel Cesar, Sonder and Kehlani herself. The 22-year-old rising star released his first EP COLOURWAY just a year ago and already has had a track hit over 5 million streams on Spotify. 

Conrad’s set, although short, was warmly welcomed. The camera operators even caught quite a few fans singing along to the moody tunes from the General Admission pit. Tracks like “IN THE AIR” and “BILL$” started off the show on a calming yet sensual note and had me clicking “add to playlist” on multiple occasions, while the call and response with the audience on Conrad’s latest single, “Day Party” prepared us for the karaoke atmosphere that was yet to come later into the night.

Up next on the bill was Rico Nasty. A rapper, singer and songwriter originally from Washington, D.C. From the very moment her blue, pink and purple hair and matching pink rainboot-like shoes stepped onto the stage, Nasty seemed to be a fan favourite. With a raspy growl to her voice and a sonic blend of hip-hop, trap and punk stylings (yes, you heard that correctly), I can say that I have definitely never heard anything quite like her. 

In just under an hour Nasty, along with the setting sun, had transformed the venue into a raving club scene with songs from her two latest albums, Las Ruinas (2022) and Nightmare Vacation (2020), including “Gotsta Get Paid,” and “Smack A Bitch.” Nearly the whole crowd seemed to both sing and dance along, especially to “Tia Tamara,” Doja Cat’s TikTok viral track on which Rico Nasty is featured.

With the crowd well warmed up, it was time for Kehlani’s DJ, NOODLES, to ignite the flame. Spinning a range of crowd-pleasing hits, there was no way you could resist getting up and out of your seat. From Mark Morrison’s classic “Return of the Mack,” and R&B songstress SZA’s “The Weekend” to Panic! At The Disco’s legendary “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” there was something in the pre-game party for everyone. 

Once the DJ had spun her last hit, there was nothing left to do but let the anticipation of Kehlani’s performance bubble up. There’s something special about that feeling you get as each song on the preshow playlist fades out, wondering if another will follow or if the lights will go black, prompting the crowd into an excited roar.

When the moment happened, the stage was illuminated in blue as a video of Kehlani and their daughter Adeya played from behind a semi-sheer curtain, which concealed the band throughout the night. Dancers made their way onto the stage, twisting and twirling around the light and fog until Kehlani stepped slowly to the microphone in the centre, the lyrics to “little story” drifted effortlessly from their lips as the audience swayed along.

Throughout the night, dancing, singing and filming could be seen from all corners of the room. While not yet aware of their art school past and Juilliard youth dreams, I was delightfully surprised by Kehlani’s own skills on the dancefloor as they busted a move with four other dancers on “Up At Night” and a remixed version of “Distraction,” among others. 

While independently commanding the stage with both powerful vocals, emotive conversation and fan favourites like “Night’s Like This” and “Piece of Mind,” Kehlani was no stranger to sharing the spotlight. They invited Destin Conrad back on stage for a duet on “open (passionate)” and repeatedly bowed-down to guitarist Lexii Lynn, who played quite a few impressive solos plus a sweet, sit-down acoustic moment on Honey, which Kehlani hailed “the gay-est song [they]’ve ever written,” after declaring their shows safe spaces for all.

To finish off a night full of songs from their entire 4-album and 2-mixtape catalogue, Kehlani surprised fans with a visit from Toronto’s own Jessie Reyez. After commenting on the importance of friendship and community, the pair shared hugs before performing their duet, “more than i should,” which was co-written by Reyez and features on the tour’s namesake album.

Taking one last stab at going “CRZY,” Kehlani brought everyone back on stage for one last song and waved a quick goodbye to a buzzing crowd. As my friends and I made our way back to the train station, I tried to rewind the previous few hours in my head. What stood out to me was that throughout the night’s display of talent, passion and gratitude, Kehlani had brought 9,000 people together to celebrate love. Love lost, love gained, love for yourself and for friends and, of course, the love of music.

Check out exclusive videos from the concert on our Instagram.