The streets of Los Angeles were nothing short of buzzing with excitement last week when icon Tyler, the Creator kicked off his highly-anticipated Chromakopia Tour with 6 sold-out shows in his hometown at the crypto.com Arena. Starting with a very special Valentine’s Day show, he played each night of the week through Friday the 21st.
Within the venue, a sea of fans dressed head to toe in green and black, fuzzy brown hats, and Judge Judy costumes, anxiously awaited the show to begin.
The openers, Paris Texas and Lil Yachty were high-energy and did a great job at getting the crowd hyped for what was to come. Lil Yachty even expressed his immense gratitude for the opportunity of being able to support Tyler on this tour. Saying that Tyler is “a visionary” and that “we won’t get another man like him ever again.”
The main stage was set with gigantic bright green shipping containers with “CHROMAKOPIA” written on them. The house lights dimmed at 9:30 pm, bathing the 20,000+ fans in neon green light. Fog billowed over the stage in every direction as the opening of “St Chroma” rang through the arena. As the shipping container slowly began to lift, it revealed Tyler marching on his own. He’s dressed in his signature forest green army outfit with a mask adorning his face, his chosen look for this era.
His likeness was plastered on multiple huge screens around the stadium. Within the main
stage, there was one long screen directly behind him occasionally displaying visuals, and one above that, displaying live camera footage. Fans singing along to the beginning of “St. Chroma” almost mimicked the sounds of a church choir singing within an echoing cathedral. That was until the beat dropped and fire began shooting out on the stage, adding to the chaos of this opening song.
He then went on to preform “Rah Tah Tah” and “Noid” immediately after. While during “Noid,” the screen behind Tyler added an extra level of immersion with it’s prerecorded video of an extreme close-up of just his eyes darting around the screen.
He went on with his Chromakopia segment, with “Darling, I,” “I Killed You,” and “Judge Judy,” where he ended sitting on the edge of the stage, serenading the audience with a much more intimate choreographical choice in comparison to the intense dancing and effects from the previous songs.
After “Judge Judy,” Tyler gets frank with the audience as he shares his struggles with monogamy, which is a significant theme throughout Chromakopia. He tells the audience how freeing it felt to find someone who “matched his freak,” if you will.
Following, we get the first big set change of the night. A large metal lattice catwalk with a shipping container on each end, descends from the roof as Tyler struts across it. On the catwalk, he performed “Sticky” in which he tossed fake money onto the fans into the pit below him and more fireworks went off on the main stage. Also performing “Take your mask off” in its entirety, and at the end, finally takes off his own mask to reveal his face.
The next era of the night took pace on the B stage, on the other side of the arena. When the screens roll up, we see that Tyler has changed into a casual outfit, more aligned with his typical style. In this house set there’s a bike, a small couch, a shelf, a coffee table, and most importantly, a record player and record shelf. Tyler utilizes the act of flipping through a vinyl collection and picking records to spin to act as transitions between his many unique musical eras.
The first era he starts with would be his critically acclaimed breakup masterpiece, IGOR. Playing “IGORS THEME,” “EARFQUAKE,” “THANK YOU,” and “I THINK” on this B stage. Although, “IGORS THEME” and “THANK YOU” were played from a tape.
The next segment belonged to his first “on a label” album, Goblin. He played fan favorites such as Yonkers, She, and Tron Cat. After the Goblin section ended, he reflected on how long it’s been since he released it.
He also shouts out two important guests who attended that show, John B and Will.i.Am. He touches on John B’s incredible “melodies and chords” and he also expresses his love for the first Black Eyed Peas album. He goes on to mention how influential both of those people were in his music career, and thanks them for their contributions.
Moving right along, he tells the audience “Imma keep going through my discography if that’s cool with y’all” and he does just that moving on to his 2013 album Wolf.
When he puts his album, Call Me If You Get Lost, on the player, he lies down on the couch in between songs and chats with the audience here and there. He plays his hits ‘LUMBERJACK,” “I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE,” “DOGTOOTH,” and “SORRY NOT SORRY.” He continues with his 2015 album Cherry Bomb, with “DEATHCAMP,” “2SEATER,” and “SMUCKERS.” With some added iconic banter and jokes between songs that Tyler is known for.
Finally, he finished with his career-defining album, Flowerboy. He starts with “Boredom,” but the catwalk descends once more as he performs “Who Dat Boi” and “WUSYANAME” dancing around suspended in the air.
The final segment takes place on the main stage, where he plays his greatest hits from across his musical career. He sings his two more songs from Chromakopia, “Thought I was Dead” and the gut-wrenching “Like Him.”
After he finishes those songs, he admits to the audience that he’s getting older and that
performing with this level of energy is getting harder and harder. However, he also expresses his pleasant surprise with the high energy of the later shows, as he expected them to be less enthusiastic than the earlier shows.
Moving on, he plays “THAT GUY” and “See You Again.” For “See You Again,” he plays the
extended version of the beginning sample, which slowly builds to the iconic intro to his hit
song. He ends with the consistently show-stopping “NEW MAGIC WAND,” closing with
“Balloon” and “I hope you find your way home.”
Seeing Tyler, the Creator live was a bucket list item and he absolutely did not
disappoint. An incredible performer, songwriter, and storyteller, it is impossible to not be awestruck during the entire performance. His ability to play these insanely large venues but still feel connected with his dedicated fanbase is a skill in and of itself.
The tour runs through September of 2025. Be sure to check out the Chromakopia Tour in a city near you.
Keep up with Tyler, the Creator: Instagram // Spotify // X // YouTube // Website
Sarah, great article. I’m sorry I missed his show as I was out of town. Thanks for giving us such a great visual of the performance.
Amazingly worded article! Thank you!