‘CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR’ MAKES AUDIENCE FEEL LIKE ‘TOP DAWGS’

King Kendrick has spoken, all hail the king.

Kendrick Lamar stopped at two Washington state venues this past weekend – the White River Amphitheater in Aurora, near Seattle, and the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater in Ridgefield, just north of Vancouver – as part of The Championship tour with his label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE).

During these two tour stops, King Kendrick was accompanied by fellow TDE label artists SZA, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, SiR, and even Lance Skywalker for one song during their Aurora show. On top of that, he brought Kung-Fu Kenny, KDot, and even Pulitzer Kenny to the shows.

And before you get excited, like I did for both tour stops, they did not – I repeat, DID NOT – perform any Black Hippy songs. And look, I’m not resentful, not by a long shot, but having the original crew all on one stage seemed like a perfect opportunity to really throw it back and perform their early hits.

I was eager for that family vibe, the smiles on their faces as lifelong friends performed together like they used to. There was a little of that: Jay Rock came out for his verse on “Money Trees,” the first feature to actually come out on stage and make the crowd go wild; Schoolboy Q performed “X” from the Black Panther album with Lamar near the end of the set, which made the amphitheater bounce.

But not once did you see more than two performers on stage.

If you’ve been a longtime TDE fan like myself, it’s a bit of a letdown. When I bought the tickets for both Washington shows, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hell, it still was – Kendrick performed songs I never thought I would have seen in concert: “Backseat Freestyle,” “Money Trees,” “King Kunta,” “untitled 07,” to name a few. But I didn’t hear “Say Wassup,” I didn’t hear “Rolling Stone.” I’m still hoping I’ll see them perform those some day.

I digress. At the end of the day, both shows were dope. Intermissions were short, and each performer hyped the crowd. First, SiR came out and performed songs from his album, November, accompanied by Schoolboy on the track “Something Foreign.” Following SiR, Ab-Soul performed a few songs before Schoolboy Q came on stage. Schoolboy lit up the crowd with “Collard Greens” (AHEM – Kendrick did NOT join Q for his feature, she says with a hard side-eye), “Break the Bank,” “Man of the Year,” and “Studio.”

It was during Schoolboy’s performance that you really began to feel the crowd buzz with an indescribable energy.

It was clear that there were many OG TDE fans in the audience, because the crowd often rapped along word-for-word. And let me tell you, if you’ve never seen Schoolboy perform before, you’re missing out, because he is such a fun dude to watch bounce around on stage: the way he goofs with the crowd, the way he dances, they way he makes a point to make eye-contact with the front rows.

The same can be said for SZA. She had this way of bopping on stage and smiling at the crowd that was so enrapturing. SZA became choked up with emotions while prefacing “Garden (Say It Like dat)” during the Aurora show, asking the fans if they’ve ever felt like they’re 30 different people in one week. And as much as I love all the artists at TDE’s Championship tour, it was amazing to see beautiful feminine energy at the show. I was inspired by her smile and her voice. I’ll always remember her performance, how she made the amphitheater feel like a 200-square foot living room.

And then, Kendrick. Kung-Fu Kenny. K. Dot. He performed for, maybe, 45 minutes, but it felt like hours. He put his executive producing skills to use with the set list, because it was such a beautifully curated list. We got a hint of that family vibe when he brought out Jay Rock for “Money Trees,” Schoolboy Q for “X,” Zacari for DAMN.’s “Love.”

Most of all, he gave us the show of a lifetime, and I’m so glad I was able to be there.

Leaving the amphitheater on Saturday and again Sunday night, the energy was wild. It felt amazing. The crowd was abuzz as everyone reminisced, conversations overlapping conversations, friends finding each other in the mass of people heading for the parking lot. My friend and I found our way to the car and sat back to ruminate.

Will we ever get an experience like that again? We don’t know. All I can say is that this experience will last me a lifetime.

If you’d like to hear the set list for TDE’s Championship tour, The Advocate has put together a playlist on Spotify, and you can scan the QR code to listen.