In November of 2017, Tyler, the Creator was wrapping up his Flower Boy tour and I was distraught. I’ve been wanting to see his concert since my first few listens to Flower Boy. I was sitting at home thinking,

Maybe he should extend his tour. I’ll do all I can to make it to the closest city he comes to.

I lie to you not, hours later he posted more tour dates and added Vince Staples as a co-headliner. I saw that Washington D.C. was the closest it was going to get to me so I purchased my tickets the same day that they went on sale.

As the days narrowed down, I kept thinking about how I would take in the experience. This is the first show I’ve been to of his. I’ve been watching videos of old shows and videos that fans recorded during his current tour so I’d at least know what to expect.

The ride from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. was about 45-50 minutes. That whole time I was anxious as fuck. All I knew was to avoid the mosh pit. I was wearing my fresh ass Golf le Fleurs so I was glad I didn’t pay to be on the floor.

When I got there, the line to get in was already wrapped around the venue. I was looking at everybody’s outfits and everyone looked so cool. As far as outfits, all I saw were Vans, Golf Le Fleurs, Golf Wang, and Odd Future apparel. At that point, I still could not believe I was even there in that moment. Hearing other people discuss him like I do was a great feeling. It was the one place where I felt like I wasn’t doing too much. Once the line started moving and I was inside the venue, I spotted the merch. I told myself I have to leave with something, I don’t care how much it costs. The crowd got a little pushy so I just went to find my seat.

Once I saw where my seat was, I was a little bummed out that I wasn’t close enough to yell at Tyler and tell him how much he needs a friend like me, but I was close enough to enjoy myself. I mentioned the mosh pit early on, but I got to see what it was first hand once Taco started spinning and, yea, people jumping in circles and making crowd waves aren’t for me yet. Who came up with that concert concept anyway?

Taco definitely did a good job of awakening the crowd. Homegirl next to me was telling me how she was ready for Tyler and she was getting tired. I felt her pain just a tad because around the time the show was, I’m usually in bed.

Once Taco finished up, we prepared ourselves for Vince Staples. I just found out how dope his music is so I was just hoping he performed the four songs that I knew, and he did! After hearing Blue Suede I was hyped up, but I also sat my ass down so that my legs could be ready for the constant up and down motion they would experience when Tyler came out.

Once Vince was done, my heart started pounding. I was experiencing the feeling you get when your grandmother cooks your favorite meal and I love my grandma. We sat for about 30 minutes, watching the set up for Tyler and growing even more anxious.

When the lights started to dim, I began to scream and cry. I felt like a bitch, but I didn’t care. When he came out I was like,

Oh this shit is for real.

His set was so beautiful and so him. The tree branches, the colorful strobe lights, it was a euphoric experience. I think I’ve listened to Flower Boy so much, Glitter is like a daily mantra for me. It felt good to know most of the words and scream them at the top of my lungs. Not only did he perform songs from Flower Boy, but he took it back to Wolf, Cherry Bomb, and Goblin. Even though I am new to the Tyler fan clan, I damn sure knew songs from way back too. You weren’t about to catch me in there mumbling.

Tyler‘s personality was definitely on display throughout his set. It was the most hilarious shit ever because I never thought I’d experience it in person.

I’m lying.

People on the floor were giving him things and a fan threw their coat up there and his response was expected. I would have called that person a dumb ass too.

Tyler’s energy is unmatched and even though he said he was under the weather, you couldn’t tell at all.

Take note music artists.

Overall this experience was well worth the money and the loss of my voice. I had the Lou Rawls thing going on when I woke up the next morning. Had me outside taking pictures of trees and shit because I felt so jubilant and had finally returned to earth from the high I was on. I have videos to watch endlessly until the next show, even though the quality is trash. Oh, and I made it back to merch booth. It was a disaster, there wasn’t really a line and people were shoving like crazy. I almost punched someone. Shout out to the homegirl who got me to the front of the line, I ended up buying a shirt.

One thing I can say about Tyler fans is that they show up and show the fuck out. My new ass is included.

I definitely can’t wait to experience another concert from him. *Hints at next project*

If you were there or went to any show on the tour route, share your experience in the comments!