CHROMAKOPIA: Concert Review
CHROMAKOOOOOO-PIA…touched down in Sacramento’s Golden One Center on February 23, 2025 and I had the amazing privilege to go and experience all the craziness, genius, and magic of Tyler, The Creator.
On November 1, 2024, I frantically scrounge up my wallet, and pulled up my Pinterest to search for outfit ideas as I had just purchased my ticket for Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA Tour. Preparing three to four months in advance for a concert is totally normal for a Tyler, The Creator concert. Consider it a fashion show inside a concert.
I have never been to a Tyler, The Creator concert before. I went to the concert with my boyfriend, my sister, and my cousin. All of them had the chance to see him before I was singled out as the newbie, but I didn’t care! Tyler, The Creator is a one of a kind artist and I believe if anybody has a chance to see him, DO IT! It is a once in a lifetime experience! Despite having over 50 million monthly listeners on various streaming services, headliner in various successful music festivals, and topping Billboard 200 charts, Tyler has managed to stay genuine to himself and his craft. Tyler’s work is alway unique and full of presence. Each album he has made, each song in all of the albums has a story for fans to give theories on, to decipher the deeper meanings. Specifically in his recent album, CHROMAKOPIA each song is full of color and shares significant personal experiences from Tyler’s life. This includes: family life, relationships and how in the future he wants a better drive to push him forward.
February 23, 2025 comes around, I still haven’t found an outfit. The day had passed by and it was time to get ready for the concert, and pick up my boyfriend and my cousin. That is alright though, I was ready to buy some of the amazing merch at the venue. We arrived at the Golden One Center, one of my favorite concert venues because not only am I from Sacramento and have been going here my whole life but there are so many places around to eat at. Outside of the venue was packed and everyone was dressed up as either Tyler’s past albums such as Igor or even dressed up as Tyler’s previous red carpet outfits. It was a fashion show! At DOCO, where the Golden One Center is at, they have just opened a new Mexican cafe, Con Azucar. I have been looking forward to going to this cafe ever since I heard they were adding this here because they are known for making giant cafecito, which is a giant cup of coffee and a giant concha bread. The menu was full of coffees, refreshers, and food but I was not able to go. Apparently, other people heard about the new cafe and were looking forward to the giant cafecito as well because the line wrapped around the building. Therefore, my party and I went inside the venue early to get merch and food there.
When inside the venue, I beelined to the merch before the food. There at one of the multiple merch booths, I bought one of the many awesome t-shirts and a poster, adding to my concert t-shirt and poster collection. There were over 15 items of merch for Tyler only, which is most likely the most merch I have seen for a single artist. Once we found our seats, there were multiple stages where Tyler was going to perform. There was a main stage that was a huge green crate, which calls back to the music video for “St. CHROMA.” There was then something in the air, that was a runway that connected the main stage to the B stage. The B stage was a small square stage in the middle of the pit that was decorated like a home. It felt very on parr with Tyler’s vibe.
Paris Texas was the first opener of the concert. They performed on the small square B stage in the middle of the pit. I have never heard their music before, but I really enjoyed their vibes and some of their songs. Paris Texas is an alternative hip-hop duo from California. Their sound was very interesting, it was hip-hop with a fusion with rock-punk undertones. Their sounds sort of remind me of XXXTentacion as well as OutKast, but they are a magnetic and unique sounding group. Their set was full of energy and the pit was rocking out with them too. They would keep mentioning how we were the best crowd for them, but that all might’ve changed when the second opener Lil Yachty came out. I love Lil Yachy, his music is nostalgic for me as I grew up listening to him. The crowd for Lil Yachty was energetic, but when he wanted to hold a moment of silence for his friend Juice WRLD the crowd would not stay silent. It clearly upset him for the rest of the performance. Despite being upset, Lil Yachty had an incredible set and saved his biggest hits for last. It was fun and nostalgic hearing songs like “Broccoli” and “Minnesota” again.
It was about 30 minutes after the openers were finished when the lights went out, and everyone started screaming in anticipation. Green lights and fire ignited around the stage as Tyler came out marching with his mask and CHROMAKOPIA uniform to his song “St. CHROMA.” Tyler with the mask on was a little bit terrifying as he would constantly make creepy faces on the big screen. He played a couple of more songs from the CHROMAKOPIA album and utilized the lifted stage to not only perform but get to the small square B stage in the middle of the pit. Once he got to the B stage that was decorated like a house, he did a wardrobe change into his normal everyday Tyler attire. Then, with a record player in the middle of the stage and a collection of all his albums in vinyl, he would select one of the albums and play some of his songs. He would mix some of his songs together which was awesome. It was a quick speed run of all his albums and hits. It felt fast too. The visuals, the energy of the crowd, and the sound of the venue was amazing. I have mostly been to rock concerts where the crowd’s energy is high and the mosh pit was going absolutely crazy, but this concert blew those rock concerts out of the water. At some points, the crowd was louder than Tyler himself.
I had seen the setlist prior to the concert so I can expect some of my favorite songs on there, and I was really excited to hear the song “Balloon” with Doechii. It was my favorite song on the album. Before he was in Sacramento, he was in Los Angeles and brought out Doechii to perform “Balloon” with them. Unfortunately, he cut that song out from the setlist in Sacramento. That was the only thing I was a bit sad/disappointed in.
Overall, that concert was a magical experience. My ears were ringing for days, and I don’t even know how I got up and went to class the next day. If Tyler, The Creator is going on tour again, without a doubt I will break my bank to go see him. He knows himself and his audience so well that his performances feel so natural but perfect. The connections and crowd work he does is amazing as he does it in his own unique way. If you know Tyler, The Creator and his sense of humor, it was some of the most absurd and chaotic crowd work I have ever seen (I say that as a compliment). Seeing him was an adventure, but I don’t know if I can get down in the pit one day because it was wild.