Crowned Billboard’s Woman of the Year just last week amidst the reigning charting-topping success of SOS, the pop-R&B queen didn’t appear to be under astronomic expectations Thursday night. SZA walked onstage in a black jersey and track pants, with SOS on the backside. Like her clothes, the St. Louis native’s humility and coolness are part of what draws in fans.
Fellow ACL Fest 2022 select Omar Apollo kicked off the show with – relative to the performance to follow – a modest set of catchy R&B tunes. Riling up the crowd with popular songs like the TikTok-viral “Evergreen,” the opener preceded a dance party as the audience of mostly young adult women shouted lyrics to Saweetie’s boastful “My Type” and Cupcakke’s humorous “Deep Throat,” waiting for SZA.
Emerging in undone hair, SZA conveyed that despite insane success and yet another sold-out show, she too, is just a “Normal Girl.” Eventually making her way off the diving board and momentarily settling on the dock of a nearby ship, SZA and her background dancers, dressed in all black, flexed remarkable moves as she sang “Seek and Destroy.”
Setting sail on February 21, SZA’s North American tour hit its halfway point in Austin, also the three-month anniversary of her highly anticipated second studio album. Like iconic 2017 debut Ctrl, long-awaited SOS continues the artist’s trademark chilling vocals, catchy lyrics, and features from big names in hip-hop. Still, the 23-track second album expansively experiments with pop-punk ( “F2F”) and acoustic raps (“Blind”) – both of which received Moody airtime.
Cues to SZA’s clear fan connection flowed alongside her highly relatable and vulnerable music. Following the force of new “F2F,” simple lines like “run fast from my day job” off 2017’s “Broken Clocks” brought the rockstar down to earth. It’s comforting to hear a woman with such success and knowledge sing, “I used to be special / But you made me hate me / Regret that I changed me.”
Spitting taboo sentiments backed by a four-piece band, SZA embodied why her groundedness makes her so touching – whether at sea level or far below. On the one hand, her connection to nature and insightful rhymes make her prophetic. Still, she turns feelings and emotions often deemed embarrassing into hits.
SZA’s admirable because she just gets it, making a comeback album from an ended long-term relationship. “I was with somebody for eleven years, and then I had to start my life over from scratch,” SZA said at the evening’s high point, after singing “Normal Girl” in a white gown from a lifeboat elevated high above the audience. SOS, a double-entendre that signifies devotion to saving herself, plays with the Morse code alert and nods to her own nickname, “Sos.”
More than a concert, SZA’s 28-song extravaganza brought high-quality, primarily aquatic-themed visuals, multiple ascensions into the air of the arena, and a handful of costume changes. Throughout, SZA ensured that each audience member not only understood her full capacity as a performer, but also felt connected to her. Even after an extravagant finale to “Good Days,” as fans headed upstairs, SZA reemerged under the bright house lights in a rare pop star move.
Back in casual clothes, while a promo for a new music video played on screen, she delivered a final “genuine thank you.”
This article appears in March 10 • 2023.