SZA – Concert Experience - Record Of My Mind

SZA took over the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on the 11th of June 2023. The SOS tour is filling arenas all over Europe right now and fans can’t wait to finally see the singer back on stage.

For one and a half hours the R’n’B singer Solána Imani Rowe has the crowd standing, singing and dancing to the 30 song setlist.

DJ Castro is opening the show for the first time on this tour and replacing RAYE as the support act for this tour stop. He hypes up the crowd with some rap songs that everyone sings along to. For nearly an hour the arena feels like a club as the fans start dancing and even the people with seats get up to have a party.

Act 1

At nine SZA finally gets on stage. She is sitting on a ledge in the air with visuals of the waves of her album cover in the background. As she sings PSA the crowd watches her in awe and as the LED screen lowers again, we see her shadow jump off the ledge into the “water” with a loud splash.

When the screen lifts again the incredible stage design of an old ship is revealed, while SZA enters the stage singing Seek And Destroy from her latest album “SOS”. From the first second on the atmosphere in the venue is incredible. Fans are screaming all the words to her older and newer songs from the top of their lungs. They dance with their friends and take pictures of the R’n’B star to capture those beautiful memories in the making. There is no way not to get into the vibe and have a great time at her show.

It is a good mix of older songs like Broken Clocks, Covers like Bag Lady from Erykah Badu and Roy Ayres and also Features like All The Stars ft. Kendrick Lamar.

Act 2

In this act of the show with more upbeat songs like F2F and Prom the crowd is fully into the storyline watching SZA and the stage in anticipation.The maritime theme evolves throughout the show as SZA and her dancers face a storm in a stunning dance performance on the ship during Low. Thunderstorm visuals and a titanic moment on the ship deck end up in a lifeboat being lowered from the arena ceiling.

Act 3

The following songs Supermodel, Special, Nobody Gets Me and Gone Girl are performed by SZA flying around the arena in the boat. She is steering towards a lighthouse in the back of the room. Fans don’t hesitate and sway their flashlights to those slower songs, creating a breath-taking sea of lights. While she sailed along the ceiling in her gorgeous pink dress, she threw white rose petals onto the fans in the pit. For me this was definitely the highlight of the show and a picture I will keep in my mind.

Act 4

When SZA is back on stage the last act of her performance starts and a huge anchor is revealed on stage. Certainly it seems like the ship has sunk and we watch her perform in an underwater world. For the last minutes of the set the crowd gets hyped to hear her most famous songs like Kiss Me More featuring Doja Cat and her newest hit Kill Bill from her sophomore album. Looking around the arena you could see everyone standing and having a good time, even at the seats in the back of the arena the energy was clearly visible.

In the end SZA was sitting on the ledge again in a second beautiful pink gown. In the background there are visuals of a bright sunset and clouds as she closes the show with her song Good Days. This last song gave the whole room goosebumps and was a beautiful ending of the set.

Truly I have never seen a show with such great storytelling and visuals, the stage design was extraordinary. Every song had its very own character contributing to the show and it was somewhat like watching a movie. The concert was unforgettable and after the show one fan got an even more unforgettable moment by SZA herself. Earlier in the show she recognized a fan standing in the front row at the same spot where he stood at a previous show already. SZA loved his energy and came back out minutes after the show was done, to invited him backstage. This fan had the whole stadium clapping and cheering for him. That’s how a beautiful evening was closed off for the thousands of people in Cologne. Leaving the arena, you couldn’t overhear the excited chatter or overlook the shimmering eyes that speak for themselves.