Tuesday night, G-Eazy tore the roof off of the Roseland Theater in Portland.
From the Bay to the Universe tour began its run about two months ago and features E-40, Jay Ant, Marty Grimes, a handful of talented DJs and surprise guest, Bobby Brackins.
The show started at 8 p.m. and opened with Jay Ant, who reps the HBK Gang (think Sage the Gemini and friends). Jay performed a few songs and then introduced E-40.
E-40 took the stage and the crowd went wild when he performed “Function,” “There She Go,” “You and That,” and the classic banger, “Snap Your Fingers.” He told the audience that he will be releasing a two new CDs on Dec. 2. E-40’s last song was “I Don’t Fuck With You,” eliciting a wave of screams.
After a thirty minute break and a few DJ sets of the most popular hip hop songs spun by DJ Fatboy, the lights dimmed and a minute countdown was reflected on stage. G-Eazy came out in all black with a long trench coat when the clock zeroed out and opened with his song Downtown Love. Blue lights flashed everywhere and matched the more tranquil vibe of this popular song.
Then, G-Eazy introduced himself as Gerald and stated that the first time he came to Portland, he performed at a coffee shop around the corner from the Roseland Theater. Throughout the show, he repeated how honored and humbled he felt because his last show hardly had 200 people and most people in the audience didn’t know who he was. For this tour, he sold out the Roseland, which seats 1,410, in a few minutes.
Gerald decided to play some of his older songs since a few people from that coffee shop a few years ago were in the crowd and to my surprise, almost everyone knew the lyrics.
He contrasted these older songs with his most popular song, “Far Alone” featuring E-40, toward the end of his set. This song was amazing live, sounding almost identical to the recorded version. The crowd absolutely lost it with the combo of G-Eazy and E-40 — at least 15 bras hung from the mic stand by the end of the song.
The show also had a cinematic component to it. There was one main screen that projected parts of his music video for songs like “Let’s Get Lost” and “Far Alone.” G also utilized this simple screen to display solid colors that reflected the emotions of each song and then mixed an interview with his mother into the mix. The whole effect turned out very unique and authentic.
After a break, he came back with a new song, Lady Killers featuring Hoodie Allen.
The best moment of the concert was his encore. The stage went pitch black, the screen said “loading” and Gerald started singing his banger, “Loaded.” Smoke and confetti and champagne covered the crowd on every drop of this song. Balloons stamped with the words, These Things Happen, the name of his album, floated along in the hyphy craze.