Steve Lacy live in Nashville: A review

Steve Lacy has been one of my favorite artists for over half a decade, but I had never had the privilege of seeing him in concert until this year. 

With the July release of his new album “Oh Yeah?” and hits like the title track being featured in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” it was only right for Lacy to follow up the album success with a tour.

I was ecstatic about being able to see some of the songs from the album live, such as “The Feeling” and “Is It Cool?” but as a longtime fan, I was even more excited to hear some of his older music.

I got to travel to Nashville, one of my favorite cities, and see him with my best friend, who has also been a fan for as long as I have. It was a very special trip for both of us.

Lacy performed at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, which holds about 10,000 people, and the lines to get into the venue were horrendously unorganized. The show was originally scheduled to start at 8 p.m., but Lacy did not come on until almost 8:45 p.m. because of how long it took everyone to get in.

Once we finally got to our seats, my best friend and I were incredibly antsy and awaiting the start of the show. 

With no opener, Lacy began the show by singing the entirety of his new album in order, a rare feature of his concert that most artists don’t do. 

He has not sung an entire album of his in order for a show since the tour for his 2019 debut album “Apollo XXI.”

After finishing that portion of the show, which included a 20-minute instrumental performance from Lacy and his band, the show transitioned into Lacy singing his older music.

He sang some iconic hits such as “C U Girl,” “N Side,” “Bad Habit” and “Static.” 

My favorite part of the show was when Lacy took song requests from fans across the crowd. He ended up singing nearly 10 songs that people requested, including my favorite song of his, “Love 2 Fast.”

I was in complete awe hearing him sing it, with his raw vocals and simple guitar strums. I never thought I would hear that song live and now I get to say I did.

Lacy also tends to perform a cover or two for each show on his tour and during his Nashville show, he did a simple performance of “PRIDE.” by Kendrick Lamar, which was incredibly cool to witness.

Lacy also sang his song “Dark Red,” which is something very special to my 16-year-old self and me, as it is one of the first songs I ever felt a deep connection to. Anytime I listen to it, I am instantly transported back to when I first heard it.

I was also thrilled to hear songs such as “Guide,” “Basement Jack,” “Helmet,” “Infrunami” and “Playground.”

Lacy put on an amazing performance and what stood out to me the most were his vocals. I always knew he had a good voice, but hearing it live was even more special. 

This is definitely a concert I will be missing for the rest of my life and I am looking forward to reminiscing on my concert videos once a week.