The Boston crowd anxiously awaited SZA’s entrance. After an energetic performance by singer/songwriter Omar Apollo, fans were singing and dancing to the music occupying the sound system while TD Garden was preparing for SZA’s stage arrival. Unlike most big-venue concerts, there was extreme fan-to-fan communication. One man twerked in the corner of the concert hall, and it seems the entire crowd was able to scan the crowd and identify who caused the ruckus. TD Garden has never seen so many nose rings in an audience; the teen-dominated crowd brought the energy SZA’s SOS tour performance deserved.
Suddenly, the music stopped and the crowd grew silent. SZA appeared on a diving board, belting “PSA” with a blue scene reminiscent of her “SOS” album cover. After the song was over, she seemingly dove into the water on the stage floor as the crowd hollered.
The concert had a nautical visual theme throughout, with various magnificent scenes involving boats. A shipwreck was created on stage at one point, a technical marvel with the waves and boat moving wildly alongside chaotic blue lights and mysterious bodies dancing around the stage.
Solána Imani Rowe, who goes by the stage name of SZA, proudly performed alongside her Boston-based crew. Four background dancers jived across the stages in complement with SZA’s voice while her band rocked in the corner. The guitar player constantly whipped her hair around as she backed up the vocals and strummed around her epic set. SZA’s joy on stage propagated into the crowd.
The most shocking moment of the concert must have been when an inflatable boat resembling a life raft was lifted into the sky, rode by SZA singing “Supermodel.” As she moved over the crowd towards the back of the audience, her fans went wild as she closed the distance between her and screaming bodies. While on top of the boat, she made a short speech, thanking the crowd and introducing her next song. She then sang “Nobody Gets Me” while the boat in the sky moved towards stage right.
To end the show, SZA returned to the scene of her SOS cover, sitting on a diving board, but now in a flowing orange tulle and ruffled dress, with a piercing sunset displayed behind her. The crowd was singing along to “Good Days,” one of her most popular songs, a single released in 2020.
SZA took the same approach to her wardrobe as often seen with Billie Eilish; she achieved respect and complete adoration from her screaming fans without objectifying her body. As a recently rising star who has now been named the Billboard Woman of the Year, she stands a role model to all. Even while avoiding revealing clothes, SZA stunned the audience with the rawness of her vocals. She began the concert wearing black cargo pants and an oversized jersey with an S which contrasted the ocean and boat stage design.
Eliza Kimball ’25 (elizakimball@college.harvard.edu) got her drink stolen by a twerking man.
Becca Ackerman ’25 (rackerman@college.harvard.edu) danced way more than The Crimson writers to her right.