When I took the 40-minute drive up to the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday, I didn’t quite know what to expect from Post Malone — my most listened-to artist — seeing him live for the first time.
In 2022 alone, I listened to 5,166 minutes of his music, reaching the top 0.05% of listeners and was in the top 1% in 2021 and those minutes were all worth it.
This was my second ever concert — not counting Quinipiac’s annual Wake the Giant concert — but it’s something everyone should experience.
The best thing about the F-1 Trillion tour is the mix of his old music from “Stoney,” “beerbongs & bentleys,” “Hollywood’s Bleeding” and his newest album “F-1 Trillion.”
It wasn’t every track from the “F-1 Trillion,” which would’ve been great as I like the whole album, it was a well-balanced mix. Fourteen of the 27 songs on “F-1 Trillion: Long Bed” and 11 hits from his earlier albums were performed. For somebody who has never seen him live before on any of his six tours, the addition of the older hits was a vital point in the experience.
Malone opened the concert with “Wrong Ones” and “Finer Things” from “F-1 Trillion” and it was the perfect start as the songs have catchy instrumentals starting the night on a bang. He then dove into “Circles” and “Chemical” as the first songs outside of the new album.
These aren’t the only songs from previous albums that stood out to me.
“Better Now,” “Rockstar” and “Psycho” were my favorite of his older hits because of the way that the lights and the pyrotechnics made the whole crowd sing and dance to every word.
Now what about the songs from “F-1 Trillion.”
“M-E-X-I-C-O” stood out from the rest because of its music and Malone’s personality. Unlike the hit song “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan, Malone doesn’t have a hit dance for his song — at least not yet — he did his own rendition when the song spells out Mexico. This part, along with the banjos, fiddles and drum pattern gives the song a tune that makes everyone want to stop their feet while allowing Malone to be himself.
The two songs I was most excited to hear were not on the new albums but were the most viral ones on social media, “Stay” and “I Fall Apart.”
“Stay” is one of his slower songs and Malone pulled a fan, Sarah, on stage to play the guitar. This part had everyone getting behind them while they performed it.
“I Fall Apart” became viral for a different reason, this is the one song where he shares his raw emotion, making you relate to the song even though you may not.
The one part of the set list that made me question the setup was when Malone played “Yours” before transitioning to “White Iverson.” “Yours” was inspired by Malone’s two-year-old daughter about the bittersweet thought as a father of her future wedding day. While a great song that has a strong message, playing it before “White Iverson,” one of his most famous songs, was an interesting decision changing the mood a full 180.
Aside from that, the concert was a blast, not just with the music but also his personality. Whether it’s him dancing to his own instrumentals, saying “cheers motherfuckers” between each song or “dying” during the end of one of his songs, his personality radiated every time you looked on the stage.
Having seen AJR at Madison Square Garden and this Post Malone concert, both of these have the technical elements that made the concert magical. One aspect of the concert that stood out was the production quality, especially the lighting, visual effects and the use of fire at the beat drops. At certain points, they synced perfectly with the mood of the music, heightening the intensity of tracks like “I Fall Apart,” “M-E- X-I-C-O” and “Better Now.”
While Post Malone’s theatrics and music may not be for everyone, he is someone that everybody should see in concert because of his goofy personality and energetic songs.
