Chris Brown’s The Party Tour” has been living up to its name as it goes from city to city. Last night, the outing came to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
The stage’s set-up made the concert feel more intimate as, at some points, fans were able to reach out and touch the artists thanks to a square platform in the middle of the arena with runways connected to its four sides.
Casanova and Kap G opened up respectively and set the night off for their platinum-plus tourmates.
O.T. Genasis brought the thunder right away with his mega smash “Coco.” The charismatic MC gave the fans a taste of some of his new songs, including “Busting it Down” and his current single “Thick.” After giving a clinic to the fans on how to Crip Walk, he got right back to his blockbusters. “Go get the money! Go get the money,” Brooklyn yelled at him on “Push It.” O.T.’s closer “Cut It” was met with a rousing reception. Busta Rhymes watched O.T.’s set from the DJs smaller stage and was all smiles as his Conglomerate cornerstone tore things down. Short and sweet.
Next up, BK’s own Fabolous came out with a sequined Brooklyn Nets jacket that highlighted the team’s black and white colors. The hometown hero was showered with love as he started off with “You Be Killin Em.” Loso hit the audience with a plethora of his both his newer catalog and then told his DJ they’d done everything but the classics. With over a decade and a half of gems, Fab had no problem keeping the excitement at a high peak, dropping a flurry of timeless sing-along ditties.
“Superwoman” led into “So Into You” led into “Can’t Let You Go” and “You Make Me Better” followed. The DJ then played a piano breakdown of the original version of “Throw It In The Bag” where Fab rapped the first few bars of the record slowly, in time with the beat. Then the music dropped for the remix. The beloved Master of Ceremonies then took to the streets and ended with “Breathe.”
Controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was then seen walking closer to the stage. Boxing champ Adrien Broner was also in the crowd and the two took pictures together.
Soon after, a giant cube made of LED screens was lowered down to the stage and a 60-second countdown started. As the set-up raised, two dancers descended down to the stage slowly, acrobatically twirling in the sky. Brown’s Royalty record “Wrist” began to play and he was lowered from the design on strings, singing as he dropped to the stage.
“My wrist ’bout 30 below, why would I be worried ’bout hoes?,” he sang. “And if you ain’t ever leaning, swerving in traffic, you ain’t sip that dirty before /Catch me tipping on 4’s, diamond drippin’, prolly sippin’ on 4’s.” He did flips on the air as he continued, “Ferragamo slippers dipped ’em in gold with so many women, think I’m pimpin’ on hoes / ‘Cause my wrist still drippin’, 44’s still tip /In the cut with my hittas, no they do not miss / I’m a champagne pourin’ nigga, I love big asses and tits.”
After getting unhooked, Brown went all the way back to one of his early smashes, “Poppin.”
As we learned, the best parties are when everyone contributes and Fabolous gave more than his fair share. Loso had a show-stealing segment when Brown handed the show over to him for several minutes and the master lyricist brought out a myriad of guests: A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie in all white for “My Shit”; Young M.A for “Ooouuu”; and, adorned in all red, A$AP Ferg hit back to back home runs with “Work” and “New Level.” He also teased some of his new record, “East Coast.”
East Coast legend and fellow Harlemite Cam’ron then came out, sporting a black Bulls jersey with jeans, causing a whirlwind with “I Really Mean It” and “Suck It Or Not.” As great as the reception was for Fab’s guests, the Barclays hit a fever pitch when Lil Kim hit the stage. The Queen Bee stung the fans with her verse from “All About The Benjamins,” slapping Fab a high-five before spitting “Wanna rumble with the Bee huh?,” as well as her anthem “Lighters Up.”
“Damn y’all look good tonight,” Kim said. “Y’all know I wasn’t gonna miss this.”
Fabolous wasn’t done though. He rapped his “Say Ahh” verse and then brought C. Breezy back out to perform “She Wildin” together.
But the night’s headliner had much more in his tank with “Liquor” and its appropriate follow-up, “Drunk Texting.” One of his concerts stalwarts through the years, “Take You Down,” came later with a female guitarist in a G-string leotard assisting on stage, but “The Party Tour” finally came to an end with the single “Party.”