Students piled into The Ryan Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, to watch Bryson Tiller perform hits from his four studio albums.
Vendors lined the streets with t-shirts and sweatshirts, selling the merch to fans as they waited to enter.
The first opener was Breez Kennedy, an 18-year-old from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He rose to fame on his Tik Tok, originally. Kennedy performed some unreleased music, which was mostly rap, and even brought a fan on stage. This being his second time in Rhode Island, he shared his gratitude with the audience and Tiller for having him.
Eem Triplin, the next opener, performed songs from his album “Still Pretty.” Triplin, the 23-year-old rapper from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, rose to fame in 2022.
When Tiller came out, he opened up the concert with “Gotta Move On,” “Losing Focus,” “Sorry Not Sorry” then “Run Me Dry.” He mashed up his songs in order to create different compilations and to keep the crowd on their toes.
The variety of lights and background visuals during his songs tell stories to further persuade the art. The show opened up with smoke machines, bright flashing white lights, and some calmer orange and yellow as well. As Tiller transitioned from song to song, so did the visuals.
Sophia Tomasello and Ava McNamara, two fans of Tiller’s music, came all the way from Tampa for the concert. McNamara has been a fan for a while now, and this was her third Bryson Tiller concert so far this year.
“For However Long”, “Ciao!”, and obviously “Don’t”, were some of Tomasello’s favorite songs Tiller played, however, she noted that she would have liked to hear “Persuasion” or “Calypso.”
“I know what I would take away…the part where he starts singing ‘Whatever She Wants’ he goes too much into the song,” Tomasello said.
Next, Tiller sang a cover mashup of “Maria Maria” and “Wild Thoughts” by Santana and Rhianna. This cover showed Tiller’s range and his appreciation for his fellow artists. “Whatever She Wants” was well-received by the crowd, one of his more well known songs, that trended on TikTok. Students were also fan favorites of “Ciao!” and “Don’t.”
“I really didn’t know what to expect because it was here, I just didn’t think it was going to be that big of a thing, but I was really impressed with how big it was,” said audience members Delilah Deliese and Maddy Ferreria.
While some students were impressed by Tiller’s performance, others had contradicting opinions.
“I felt like it needed more crowd work, I think the setlist was fine but during the concert I would have liked some more crowd work instead of just playing straight through,” audience member Eliska Krajacich said.
However, for first-year Aine Sheehan, who was not too big of a fan beforehand, she was happy with the songs he played and the overall experience of the concert.
“It lived up to my expectations and was just a fun night to get dressed up for and go out to a concert,” Sheehan said.
Students embraced the concert, with a few fans towards the back of the floor dancing the whole night. Audience members were singing and dancing along to songs like “Ciao!,” “502 come up,” “say my name” and “blame.” During “Ciao!” Tiller and his background dancers put on a show with some freestyle. Choreography for this can be found all over social media, as fans took the trend and ran with it.
Another thrilling part of the concert was when Tiller brought his daughter up on stage. This special memory will be in her life forever. The concert closed out with “Just Another Interlude,” “Self-Righteous,” “Let Em Know,” “Don’t,” “Sorrows” and “Right My Wrongs.”
Tiller ended the concert with “Whatever She Wants,” which produced high amounts of energy for the final song of the night. “The Bryson Tiller Tour” continues in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Oct 17.