Tyler, the Creator, Finds His Way to Madison Square Garden
After a two-year hiatus, Tyler, the Creator sells out two nights at New York City’s most iconic venue
COURTESY OF GRACE ASHWORTH
Tyler, the Creator while performing “EARFQUAKE.” Tyler began his North American tour in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 8, 2022, and will conclude his 35-show run in Seattle, Washington, on April 8, 2022.
April 4, 2022
Make no mistake: Tyler, the Creator lit up Madison Square Garden for night one of his two-night run in New York City. A sold-out crowd of anxious high schoolers and 30-year-olds alike shook the floor of the Garden during this performance of the “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” tour.
The opening acts, which consisted of Teezo Touchdown, Vince Staples and Kali Uchis, prepared the lively crowd for Tyler’s 1 hour and 30-minute set, swirling excitement in the arena.
As the clock hit 10 p.m., Tyler arose from the stage in his 1939 Rolls-Royce Wraith, jumping right into the beginning of tracks off of the album and taking the crowd through his travel itinerary. He kicked off night one at Madison Square Garden with “SIR BAUDELAIRE,” “CORSO” and “LEMONHEAD” as he made his way to the top of his turquoise house on stage.
The rapper continued the streak of tracks off of “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” and jumped into the album’s leading single entitled “LUMBERJACK,” followed by “MASSA.”
In true Tyler Baudelaire fashion (Tyler, the Creator’s, alter ego), the rapper sailed to the B stage in a Riva speedboat, which was decorated to appear as the desert, covered in sand and shrubs, all while performing fans’ favorite “WUSYANAME.”
Upon arrival to the B stage, Tyler took the crowd back to the past by performing older tracks from his hit 2017 album “Flower Boy.”
After tracks “Boredom” and “911,” Tyler spoke to the crowd about his performance history in New York City since the beginning of his career — “Not many people can sell out Madison Square Garden.” The audience in turn responded with booming cheers echoing throughout the iconic venue. Tyler then continued into a seamless melody of older songs such as “She,” “SMUCKERS” and “Tamale,” sending the crowd deeper into a frenzy.
Between his impressive dance moves and tunes, Tyler engaged with members of the crowd — allowing for an impersonal environment to feel personal.
Hopping back into the boat, Tyler sang “SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” before jumping back onto the main stage to perform “Who Dat Boy.” He called onto the crowd to dance along with him to “I THINK.”
Between his impressive dance moves and tunes, Tyler engaged with members of the crowd — allowing for an impersonal environment to feel personal. In between “I THINK” and “Who Dat Boy,” Tyler told a fan to “Shake his ass.” In other contexts, this could seem offensive, but here it brought laughter from the crowd and the fan it was directed at. The rest of the crowd chanted back to Tyler his own demands, inspiring Tyler to shake his own.
To balance out the admiration and loud cheers Tyler received throughout the night, he asked the crowd to boo him, stating, “I have a boo fetish,” which caused the crowd to chant back boos at him. “Thank you, I love balance,” he said with a gracious grin.
As the show came to an end, the energy ramped up as Tyler took the tracklist back to his 2019 album, “IGOR.”
Before introducing what he claimed was his favorite song in his 14-year career, he cautioned the crowd, stating, “The performance is me sounding terrible for four minutes straight … it’s out of tune, and I’m yelling because I think life is out of tune. That’s just what the f— it is.”
After his disclaimer, he began yelling “NEW MAGIC WAND,” causing mosh pits to form and off-pitched screams to grow louder.
As the night drew to a close, the sweet horns of “RUNITUP” rang through the arena, and Tyler danced, rapped and ran his way through the 4-minute encore. Tyler and the crowd completed their travel itinerary together, a sweet journey coming to an end as Tyler grabbed his Globe-Trotter luggage and waved goodbye to his travel partners.
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