By Lucia Grijalva
Photos by Lucia Grijalva
On Feb. 28, artist Pink Sweat$ performed at Tucson’s Rialto Theatre. His “Welcome Home” tour brought a set full of dreamy pink lights and indie/R&B ballads.
Pink Sweat$ garners an average of 5,332,913 listeners monthly on digital music streaming service, Spotify, and has amassed a total of 963,443,269 views on online video platform, YouTube. Fellow R&B singer, Aqyila, opened for the show. She pulls in 979,077 monthly listeners on Spotify and has gathered 44,784,243 views on YouTube. Before her appearance, audience members sat awaiting and unaware of the pure romance and soul that would soon take over the room. During the concert she announced the release of her debut album, “Falling Into Place”.
Pink Sweat$ not only captured the attention of his audience with his songs, but he also made it a point to interject covers of other artists with a comparable sound to his. His covers included songs by Frank Ocean, Luther Vandross and more. During the cover-filled break in his set, the crowd could be found joining in to each chorus with Pink Sweat$ in a cantata-like manner.
Interactions between the artist and concertgoers were in a constant streamline throughout the night. Pink Sweat$ made it seem as if we were not in a venue, observing a manufactured or fabricated act, inaccessible to us and lifted atop a platform. Instead it felt like we had been in a small room or even an intimate recording studio with the ability to easily banter back and forth.
He regularly added attendees’ requests and commentary as a key component to his performance. One running bit of his show included identifying two coupled audience members at a time and asking “How’d you meet?”, “How long have you been together?”, What do you do for work?” and etc. It was these subtle, non-judgemental and lighthearted inquiries into their relationship that made the public feel connected and included. As the night progressed, responsiveness from the audience only flourished and answers developed into unorthodox and eccentric.
If audience members weren’t already in possession of a pink outfit, they’d have a chance to check out the Pink Sweat$ merchandise table. In the main entrance of the Rialto Theatre a booth featuring sweat suits, tote bags, jerseys, water bottles, beanies and more sat for purchase.
Overall, this concert was absolutely in tune with Tucson’s prioritization of a locals-focused atmosphere, with informal, familiar and pleasant music sending us into a whimsical, imaginative “Pink Planet”.