On the night of February 13th, 2015, Theophilus London began his Vibes Tour in Atlanta, Ga at the Loft. It was a legendary performance because it was his first time doing a live rendition of the entire album anywhere. The Chiefers: David, Leighton, & I arrived as media, shortly after 9pm to a halfway filled and already excited venue. The pre-show DJ was in the act of getting the crowd warmed up as he played an onslaught of old but still fresh, and new bangers from artists such as: Waka Flocka Flame, Kanye West, Big Sean, Drake and Fetty Wap. There was moshing going on in the middle of the crowd which clearly showed that everyone was ready for a good show. During this moment, and as the rest of the crowd was filling in, Theophilus walked in the venue to head backstage and eyes averted to him followed by screams from a few of his fans that were women. From the looks of the crowd, it seemed as though you could differentiate between the people who were only there for father, and those who came to see Theo. By the end of the night, we realized that assumption wasn’t so.
Father came on stage in his leopard print jacket around 9:50 pm to the delight of everyone in the audience yelling his name in unison, and after continuously telling the sound guy to turn his mic up, things really got to jumping. A few minutes into the set, the other members of Awful Records(music collective started by Father) who were in attendance, joined in the festivities happening on stage.
Artists such as Slug Christ (Jesse Pinkman with a mullet) & Lui Diamonds, who is also affiliated with NRK, rapped verses to songs they were on. Slug also performed two of his own tracks during the party happening on stage. Once that was over, there was a brief intermission during which the instrumental to Figure It Out from Vibes played through the venue speakers on repeat. I highly enjoyed it, because that song is my favorite on the album (Shout out to the legend Leon Ware).
The artist of the night that everyone was anticipating, finally came on stage, showered with a fusion of cheers and screams. Behind him he boasted a band consisting of two guys playing on guitar, one of them also on keys, and an extremely outstanding drummer. He performed the album in order, so after Water Me, Theo stopped to talk to the crowd & explained his process of recording the album and how important this show was. It was his first time doing it live and that everything wasn’t going to go perfect (which it didn’t, though it seemed it did), but to just enjoy the show and vibe out with him. Upon arrival of the fourth song and single of the album “Can’t Stop Feat. Kanye West” a young woman in the crowd was chosen by Theophilus to sit on stage as he rapped/sung his verse of the hit to her followed with a hug and a kiss.
“Get Me Right” changed the pace of the show as Theo brought out his highly impressive and fluent dance moves, mixed with the apparent energy of the other band members. At that point, everyone in the Loft synced, setting up the rest of the show to flow in a smooth manner. About ten minutes later as “Do Girls” began, 6 more young women from the crowd ran on stage, and to everyone’s surprise, Theophilus let them stay on and vibe with him to the song. They also were offered the chance to shout out whoever they wanted to and was asked by Theo if they had a boy or girlfriend. Only one of them did and she got sent back into the crowd who provided a trail of laughter that she met once back on the floor. Once the song ended the rest re-joined the audience shadowed by Theo letting everyone know that they were single, which was an implication for anyone try and get to know them, due to the fact that it was about to be Valentine’s Day. Two more fans (a guy and girl) accompanied TL as backup dancers during “Tribe”. The guy tried to rap the first verse, and failed. He did good for what he could remember, but passed the mic back to Theo, on account of him being “nervous”, though he did enjoy himself on stage.
The remainder of the concert concluded without any difficulties and ended when Theophilus brought the Awful Records crew back out, which led to Father pleasuring with crowd with “Look At Wrist” & “Young Hot Ebony” again. Simultaneously, a multitude of fans treated themselves to dancing on the stage, including our own Chiefer Dave, where his patience and charm scored us a great interview with Mr. London after the show. In conclusion, the entire night was amazing, and Leighton, who hadn’t had the chance to venture into Theo’s discography before the show, stated that he became a fan after witnessing the music performed & events that transpired that night.
Hit the jump below to see Dave conduct an impressive interview with Theophilus featuring one question from Chris.
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