For the first time in five years, SZA makes her return to Philadelphia on her SOS North American Tour. Her tour began on February 21, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio, and was scheduled to perform in Philadelphia on March 2, she postponed it due to unforeseen logistical and production issues. As all tickets from the original performance date were honored, fans have been waiting eagerly for her return.
SZA, or Solána Imani Rowe, is a 33-year-old R&B artist. Working with popular rappers of the time, like Kendrick Lamar, SZA quickly gained fame. Spanning just over a decade, her career soared with releases such as “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar in the Black Panther soundtrack in 2018 and more recently, “Kill Bill” in 2022, which both have one billion streams on Spotify.
The Wells Fargo Center announced the cancellation of her highly anticipated concert on the very day the artist was scheduled to perform in Philadelphia, disappointing fans who were looking forward to both her and her opener performer Omar Apollo’s appearance. Many people are shocked by the news, but it serves as a reminder of how valued health and well-being are in the demanding world of the entertainment industry.
There has been a growing trend of SZA having difficulties with scheduled show dates in the Philadelphia area. In 2018, she toured with Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, and three other artists under the record label Top Dawg Entertainment to promote her album Ctrl, Kendrick Lamar’s album Damn, and others. While the tour started in early May, she canceled the rest of her tour dates scheduled to run through mid-June to rest her vocal cords at risk of permanent damage, thus missing the performance at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey. Then, this year, she was set to headline Philadelphia’s annual Made in America Festival, set to take place in early September. The cancellation was due to, according to the official Made in America Festival’s Instagram account, “severe circumstances outside of production control” and served as another barrier between SZA and Philadelphia.
Even in 2017, while on her Ctrl Tour, SZA was scheduled to play at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, a 2,500-capacity venue, but postponed the performance from December 22, 2017, to January 31, 2018.
On September 26, 2023, SZA performed at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. A complex production, the performance conveyed a story through various scenes connected by water, tying into the cover of her SOS album. Throughout the show, large backdrop screens and special effects were used to create a more realistic setting that SZA and her dancers interacted with and incorporated into their dances.
SZA opened the show with “Seek & Destroy,” and she performed the song while recreating her album cover, sitting on a diving board over a vast open ocean. The set had an industrial feeling, with the first few songs occurring in front of a dock with realistic equipment and machines in the background, as the day turned slowly to a red sunset.
As SZA transitioned into the song “Forgiveless”, viewers were sent underground, as the background showed a rock wall moving down until arriving at an underground site, with metal pipes running along the walls and flickering lights. During “Blind”, the room slowly filled with water, until the screen moved to show a submarine. In the submarine, a video of SZA played, showing her changing her outfit backstage.
The next few songs are sung by SZA as she is on a physical ship on stage accompanied by her four main dancers, with realistic rugged cliffs on the screen behind her. Through the use of lighting and multiple screens, the boat looked as if it were moving. After the boat enters a storm, displayed through flashes of light, rough waters, and the frantic movements of the dancers, SZA makes her escape on a rescue boat that travels above the audience. The use of blue spotlights directly under the boat gave the illusion of her sailing over water.
When she returned to the stage, she was underwater, with a large anchor prop almost the size of the ceiling. During the next few songs, background graphics included jellyfish, coral and fish, and rising bubbles.
With four outfit changes and multiple background settings, SZA was able to create a storyline, something unique in artists’ performances. SZA took part in the choreographed dances right beside her professional dancers, showing her high energy and love to perform. While the original concert was delayed, it was clear she came rejuvenated and ready to give the concert her all.