Author: Toby Tang

Canada native Jeffrey Abel, professionally known as Excision, brought an unbelievable experience to finish off his two-night residency at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Lasers and pyrotechnics were a notable feature of Excision’s set. His stage design also featured a large screen that displayed many visuals throughout his set that were synced with the lasers scattered throughout the venue.

Excision began his set around 10:45 PM. He did not hold back on the production, as his first song featured pyro in the shape of X’s and lasers that shot to the back of the venue. His set featured many songs that had an incredible amount of bass that could be felt even outside the main venue room. The crowd got especially loud for “Zombie”, with Wooli and Illenium, featuring Valerie Broussard, as you were able to hear the crowd sing along to the lyrics. Towards the end of the set, Excision played “Dimension.” There was a big visual of a mammoth on the large screen on stage, and confetti shot out into the crowd. Blue and green flames shot out of the stage, on beat with the song, and created a surreal atmosphere. Excision exited, saying, “Thank you so much, San Francisco!”

Atlanta native Faye Webster teamed with the Magik*Magik Orchestra to bring an unforgettable performance to the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California. Oakland was the last stop of three on her “An Evening with Faye Webster” tour, performing with a new orchestra at each stop. Webster was accompanied by the LA Phil in Los Angeles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta.

On arrival at the venue, fans were handed a white pamphlet giving credit to each of the orchestras assisting her at each stop, as well as the musicians who helped bring this performance to life. Webster performed on a platform with the rest of the orchestra behind her. The live orchestra provided an ethereal sound that sounded extremely authentic.

Webster began her set around 8 pm to a sold-out, 3000-seat venue, and opened with hits, including “Kind of” and “Right Side of My Neck”. After a couple of songs, the backdrop changed to a curtain with hanging lights that bears a resemblance to the stars. Her set was around an hour and thirty minutes long, finishing with her most popular songs “Kingston” and “I Know You”, gaining over 730 million streams on Spotify combined. Webster thanked the audience after finishing her performance and walked off the stage with a bouquet of roses in her hand.

Chancelor Bennett, professionally known as Chance The Rapper, returned to the Bay Area after a nearly decade-long hiatus. Chance The Rapper is 32-year-old sing-songwriter, poet, activist, and producer from Chicago. Fans set the tone high early in his set, getting loud and singing every song word for word. The set included projected visuals on a backdrop, light bars on the center of the stage, and bright lights that beamed on each side of the stage, casting shadows on the venue’s walls.

Chance The Rapper began his set with “Star Side Intro” off of his newest album STAR LINE. A scene that was being projected finished up, and the stage went dark, building anticipation for his appearance on stage. After a brief moment of silence, Bennett stomped out on stage with energy. Notable songs included in the setlist for his San Francisco stop are “Same Drugs” off of Coloring Book, “Ultralight Beam” off of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, and “Cocoa Butter Kisses” off of Bennett’s 2013 album Acid Rap.

Pumping up the crowd before Chance The Rapper’s set was Bay Area native, LaRussell. Before LaRussell started his opening set, he told the crowd that he had been hyping up the Bay Area every stop of the way.

Rapper Taylor Bennett was another opener for the show and is also Chance The Rapper’s brother.