JID may have been all across the globe and signed to J. Cole, but that didn’t stop him from making a stop in St. Petersburg to perform for the crowd this past Tuesday night.
The crowd at Jannus Live on February 21, consisted of people from all walks of life, eager to see the east ATLien, along with fellow artist and collaborator Smino, the duo sold out the standing room only event Tuesday night on their “Luv is 4Ever'' tour.
Rappers SwaVay and Jordan Ward opened the show, alongside the guitarist, keyboardist, and the drummer who, though you could not see him, was shown much love and appreciation that lasted throughout the entire show.
After their performance was a slight intermission, where the DJ played a mix of songs from other artists when the color of the set changed, and JID appeared, opening with “Galaxy” and telling the crowd to put handmade hearts in the sky and told them that he was doing a “heart check”, a move that he would continue doing so his entire performance. the rapper interacted with the crowd continuously, expressing that he wanted to slowly build the momentum up with each song off of his latest album “The Forever Story (Extended Version)” as well as sprinkling in a few fan favorite songs friom his previous Projects, such as “151”, “Workin Out”, and “off Deez”.
The crowd was thoroughly engaged, hanging on to every word and reciting it back to JID and cheering him and his keyboardist on after every keyboard solo.
From the balcony above to the boisterous and rowdy crowd down below, everyone there was having fun and truly living in the moment.
I stood on the balcony at first when the show first started and I watched the crowd below, shoving their cellular devices in the sky when being told to do so, reciting and dancing to the music played in front of them, to opening up in the center and creating a “Mosh Pit”, a staple at every predominantly high energy concert (I have yet to see anyone mosh pit to R&B music).
Seeing the center open up brought back my days of flinging myself in the pit, and suddenly I found myself downstairs, being welcomed into the crowd, people courteous of me, mainly because of my height (5/2) and manners (always say “Please” and “thank you”)
Once JID started with “Never” I was in the crowd, swaying alongside them, listening to the music blast through the speakers and watched as the two hearts, side by side but facing away from each other, almost as if they’re supposed to be butterfly wings, change colors and moods depending on which song is being played at the time.
The lyrics from “151 Rum” on the heart screen as he performed resulted in the crowd shouting it back to him. Baby Tate was missed during “Surround Sound”, but luckily, we were able to hear her vocals faintly played in the background at the end of the song.
JID closed his show with the Gangsta Grillz produced song and my personal favorite, “Stick”.
At that point the crowd exploded as soon as we heard the words “I got the time.” It was truly an experience that I can only describe as “needed Chaos.”
All in all, JID is worth seeing live at least once in this lifetime.
Listen to JID on all streaming platforms. “The Forever Story (Extended Version)”, as well as JID’s other hits, is out now!