On April 28th Post Malone returned to the Sportpaleis to present his Twelve Carat Tour to his Belgian audience. Indeed Austin Richard Post (real name) was very much expected as his last concert was in August 2019 at Pukkelpop. His fans will have waited almost four years to see him perform live again.
Austin Richard Post, better known as Post Malone, is a 27-year-old American singer who has been on the international scene since 2015 thanks to his song White Iverson. He released his first album Stoney in 2016, with which he won the hearts of thousands of fans around the world.
A high-flying opening act
It’s 8pm in Antwerp and the duo Rae Sremmurd (two brothers: Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi) take to the huge stage of the Sportpaleis. They come on stage running full of energy and motivated as ever to make this opening act unforgettable.
The lights are crazy, the atmosphere is similar to that of a nightclub in the United States, the room is so big yet it seems so intimate. The two brothers play their most famous sounds such as No Type, This Could Be Us or Throw Sum Mo and they take advantage of their time on stage to interact with the audience as much as possible. We see them going down in the audience during some songs to give high-fives to their fans or taking their phones to make memorable videos.
They warmed up the audience perfectly, they were full of energy and interactive with the audience and the fans were super responsive to their performance.
One thing is for sure, we can’t wait to see them again in Belgium! They will be on the incredible line-up of the Ardentes festival on July 7, 2023 alongside Travis Scott.
SetList : No Type, Come Get Her, No Flex Zone, Swang, This Could Be Us, Not So Bad (Leans Gone Cold), Throw Sum Mo, Tanisha (Pump That), Sexy, Unforgettable (French Montana cover), Powerglide, Black Beatles.
Now it’s time to for the big show
It’s about 9.30pm, the audience is warm and ready when the lights go out and a cloud of smoke appears on the stage. Then suddenly, from above the stage, the audience sees Post Malone. The audience is excited and everyone is up when the first notes ring out.
The stage is impressive. It has three extensions, one in the centre and one on either side of the centre. The light show is completely different from the first part and is spectacular. The second song of the setlist Wow. starts and so do the pyrotechnic effects. This is when the audience realizes that they are not going to attend a simple concert but a performance worthy of the greatest. There are pyrotechnic effects everywhere, fireballs, sparks and even fireworks. It is grandiose.
Post Malone performs for an hour and a half. He is in a trance, he lives his music. You can feel him being pierced by his melodies and his lyrics. He regularly sings from the floor of the stage as if bewitched by his music. Like his supporting act, he takes advantage of every possible moment to interact with the public by extending his hand to them, even if it means lying down on the stage to reach their arms stretched out towards him in the hope of being able to touch him.
During Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol, he delivers a performance of unspeakable power and depth. The lights come on and off in rhythm, the room is almost silent. You feel the chills as Post Malone reveals the underside of his relationship with alcohol. His voice is powerful, it pierces us. He screams as if he is trying to evacuate his feelings and his emotions are perceptible through his voice. It is certainly one of the best interpretations of the evening.
The show goes on and on with lots of lights and pyrotechnics when a quieter moment comes when Post Malone brings a fan (Quinten) on stage to perform Stay on guitar with him. The end of the show is approaching, but we are all surprised when the first notes of Sunflower ring out in the mythical Sportpaleis. Post Malone is then joined by Swae Lee to perform their single together.
The song Congratulations rings out. There are sparks, fireworks, flames, and we know the concert is over even if we would have liked it to last forever. Posty comes back with one last song to close this extraordinary show and what better way than with White Iverson?
When the lights come back on, Post Malone comes down from the stage and takes some time with his fans who have spent the show in the pit, taking pictures and meeting people. He has taken the time for his audience which reveals his big heart.
Set List : Reputation, Wow., I Like You (A Happier Song), Wrapped Around Your Finger, Better Now, Psycho, Candy Paint, I Fall Apart, Euthanasia, Stay, Lemon Tree, Circles, Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol, Take What You Want, When I’m Alone, Over Now, Rockstar, Goodbyes, Cooped Up, Sunflower, Chemical, Congratulations, White Iverson.
The next time Post Malone comes to Belgium, he will need a venue twice as big as the SportPaleis. We hope to see him at a big festival next summer and why not at the King Baudoin Stadium during his next tour. The least we can say is that after this performance straight from another planet, all we are waiting for is his return to Belgium.