SZA’s Brisbane S.O.S. Show Review: Power, Sex and Spirituality

Two of the hottest tours just blasted through Australia, which were Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and SZA’s S.O.S. tour. SZA tickets were hot and she sold out 8 shows with roughly 10 – 15,000 people a show. SZA’s CTRL tour was a few years ago and the notoriously stage shy SZA had changed quite a bit during that time, so let’s get into it.

First off the the opening act, which was SiR from the West Coast…apparently you could only play at this concert if your stage name was three letters. He was backed by a traditional 4 string bass and a DJ who also filled in on keyboards and electronic percussion. They had a great smooth jazzy 90s D’Angelo vibe about them, which played really well with the crowd. Judging by the audience, SiR had quite a following of his own and tracks like D’Evils and Karma played really well with the crowd…as did when he took his shirt off to reveal a 27 pack of abs full of tattoos. Great opening act that took roughly 45 minutes and I suggest checking his stuff out.

The stage was set as a huge sheet projected “The S.O.S Tour / Starring / SZA” across the front. This sheet fell away to revel a gigantic LED screen with a sunset on it, while the stage had two parts of a sinking ship on it…get it…S.O.S. The show kicked off with SZA raising through one of the ships to the angelic opening notes of Seek and Destroy. The crowd was going crazy, which seemed to throw SZA off a bit as she took the first few songs to get into her groove. Once she finished Ghost in the Machine she was fully on board having fun banter with the crowd and ramping up the energy. The remaining hour of the show was high energy as the crowd hung on her every word and her backing dancers became icons.

SZA’s stage presence grew exponentially throughout the show as the dance numbers became more elaborate and she opened up to the crowd more. During tracks like Snooze, Normal Girl, Rich Baby Daddy and Drew Barrymore she used the entire stage and catwalk exuding power and sex with languid dance moves and fists in the air. The crowd was incredibly connected to SZA and you can see why she is such a big star with such a connection like that. She is a very personable and genuine artist, which really came through in her performance.

Some standout songs for me were tracks I was heavily looking forward to, but also a couple that really took me by surprise. Some personal favourites that I was waiting for, which really delivered, were Broken Clocks, Saturn (which involved SZA sitting in front of a beautiful sun set after she skipped down the runway throwing flower petals at the crowd) and Kill Bill (which took a very Tarantino vibe with SZA and her dancers running around the stage with samurai swords). One pleasant surprise was her rendition of Kiss me More, which she recorded with Doja Cat. Another surprise, and my favourite song of the night, was her doing All the Stars from the Black Panther Soundtrack. This came at the end of the night when the crowd was wild and SZA’s voice was firing on all cylinders…and man I love her voice. Experiencing that song live was amazing. A final deep cut is when she did a three song encore finishing with 2am, which she said that she was only performing in Australia because fans in Australia kept requesting it. She said that her performing that song meant that we were all family….awww….

I saw something in the SZA show that I have never seen in a concert before. Usually, the encore happens, the artist / band leaves, you hang out near backstage and you may get a picture or autograph if they come out later. SZA finished 2am, she said thanks, lights came up, and she stayed on the runway / stage for 40 minutes signing autographs, handing out backstage passes to fans and having a chat with everyone. My daughter and I had general admission and were at the front of the stage, so she got to wave at SZA….SZA looked at her…smiled…and waved back…My daughter melted. This service and gratitude to the fans is something I have never seen from an act that big and is why her fans love her so much. It was really cool and good on her for doing it. She also waved an Aboriginal flag and paid respects to all First Nations people in Australia, which is fantastic.

Even though it was a choppy start with some rough pacing, once SZA got a few songs under her belt she got in the groove and delivered on all points. Her voice was amazing, her dancing oozed sex and power, while her connection the the crowd created an atmosphere full of joy.