SZA at the OVO HYDRO
By: Ilene Krall
It was my older brother who first introduced me to SZA when I was around sixteen. Whether it was SZA’s slow and velvety lyrics, her heartbreakingly relatable themes, or just the fact that it was music my brother had shared with me, I was immediately hooked. I spent my highschool years kneeling at the altar of SZA’s debut album, CTRL, allowing her to send me into fits of rage, pits of despair, and moments of yearning as she traced her early experiences with love and heartbreak. The album felt like a defining album for young people my age, who just wanted to let themselves fall into the most primal version of themselves that saw no nuance in the pain of love and growing older, just resentment and confusion.
Five years down the line, as I and her other listeners matured, SZA’s more developed understanding of love, life, and change came with the release of her sophomore album SOS. Not only did the album express more complicated situations and more nuanced reflections on relationships, SZA’s earlier devotion to R&B influences were mixed with other styles, such as punk rock, pop, and hip hop, making SOS proof of both SZA’s growth as a woman and as an artist. This sophomore album, along with sprinkled gifts of singles we received between the releases of the two albums, only deepened my affection for SZA and her art, so when she announced international dates for her SOS tour, I was absolutely determined to go.
After several days of Ticketmaster queues, months of anticipation, and a million replays of SZA's entire discography, my flatmate and I were finally at the Glasgow OVO Hydro waiting anxiously for SZA’s entrance to the stage. Her opening act, Raye, who struck gold earlier this year with her Tik Tok famous hit, ‘Escapism’, had pulled out at the last minute due to illness, so in her place was hip-hop DJ Castro. To play for a crowd that was not expecting or wanting to hear remixes of the latest mainstream hip-hop is not an easy task, but Castro did his best to hype up the reluctant crowd. The DJ himself was talented, mixing unexpected songs together in an effort to hype up the crowd, but, besides the effect of some crowd-pleaser tracks, the opening fell a little flat. Thankfully, the real reason everyone was there, SZA, was still to come.
Sitting on top of a diving board, mimicking the SOS cover art, SZA began her near two hour set with ‘Seek & Destroy’, a personal favourite of mine from her new album. The entire rest of the show followed a storyline of a ship wreckage as SZA manoeuvred her way through the ship, fought her way through storms, and survived a wreck, allowing her music to lead the themes of feeling lost, surviving a battle, and coming out stronger on the other side. The production was immaculate and immersive, pulling the audience into the world of SOS and beyond, serving as a testament to SZA’s commitment to her themes.
Despite being a part of the SOS tour, SZA sang many songs from her debut album, an appreciated nod to fans who had been along for the ride with her since the beginning. Though many criticised SOS to be slightly all over the place with the genre-mixing, SZA’s concert renditions of songs from both CTRL and SOS, sometimes even combining tracks together as she did with ‘Normal Girl’ and ‘Nobody Gets me Like You’, proved the albums to only be connected generically but thematically, bringing her discography together under the watery world of SZA’s SOS tour.
The best part of the show, however, had to be SZA’s obvious joy to be performing. SZA has been touring the US and internationally since February, and still, she committed to every high note, gave her all to every dance break, and came out to personally greet and thank the crowd once the concert had ended.
By the end of the show, I was exhausted. Even at the way back of the stadium, SZA’s infectious enthusiasm had me on my feet for all two hours, screaming every lyric as loudly as I could. Though my sore throat is still paying for it two days later, if I could experience SZA’s artistry live again, I would. Screaming to the songs I cried to in the car at seventeen, now at twenty one was definitely a full circle moment. Though it might be another five years or more until we get another SZA album, I know I’ll be there, excitedly anticipating listening to SZA’s silky voice again.