Steve Lacy 'Gemini Rights' Tour Coverage

Live at The Factory Deep Ellum in Dallas, Texas

Words by: Brady Goar

Photos by: Nathan Nguyen

October 28th, 2022

After nearly 12 hours of waiting, and quite the rainy night in Deep Ellum, the first fans to line up at the door of The Factory in Dallas, Texas, finally got to see Steve Lacy take the stage for an electric performance in the heart of Dallas’ booming arts district. From the concert’s kickoff with opener, Fousheé, to a surprise guest appearance by Erykah Badu at the end of Steve’s set, Dallas fans were loud the entire night. It’s no secret that Steve Lacy’s Give You The World Tour has been a bit controversial so far, with Steve smashing a disposable camera on stage and calling fans out for not knowing his songs lyrics, but Dallas brought the energy and took his lyrics to heart. The pit didn’t skip a beat all night, and it wasn’t hard to tell that Steve was enjoying himself as well.

Steve Lacy was accompanied on the Give You the World Tour by Fousheé, a 33 year old Jamaican-American female artist who gained traction in the music industry when she appeared on season 15 of The Voice and later from her “Deep End” vocal snippet on TikTok. After growing up in New Jersey, heavily influenced by her mother’s background as a drummer in a Reggae band called PEP, she decided to set her sights on the music industry in New York and L.A. where she would go on to find her place and gain nearly 4.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify today.

Kicking off the night in Dallas, Fousheé took the stage with a live band including guitar, bass and drums, as well as a special guest guitar player, Phil, as introduced by Fousheé for one of her later songs. Fousheé, best known for her soul/R&B music, brought a punk/alternative rock feel to most of the music she performed on stage. The first song provoked a mosh pit in the center crowd, with head banging and heavy metal grooves. Immediately after though, she brought the crowd down with one of her more lyrical songs, showing off her vocals and unmatched high range. After moving the vibe back and forth between a heavy rock mosh and her slower R&B music, she performed a song that had been released that same day called “Supernova,” and even came down to the crowd to let a few fans sing with her. Steve Lacy is an artist known for being “out there” with his music, described by many as inventive and different, and Fousheé did nothing short of embrace Lacy’s unique spirit in her set. She also noted toward the end of her set that the music she performed on stage that night was mostly unreleased. Overall, Fousheé played an incredibly entertaining opening act and complemented Steve’s set exceptionally well.

Next to take the stage was the legend himself, 24 year old Steve Lacy, who grew up in Compton, California. Steve is a jack of all trades, highly acclaimed for his guitar playing, songwriting, genius producing, and singing. He’s produced tracks for artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Kali Uchis, Mac Miller, and many more. When Steve joined the alternative R&B group, The Internet, in 2013, he began to gain traction in the music industry, most well known for producing his music with nothing more than an iphone, garage band, a guitar, and his voice. Steve would continue to produce and collaborate with artists by the likes of Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator and Vampire Weekend, and later receive multiple Grammy nominations with The Internet, and Kendrick Lamar. Gemini Rights, Steve’s latest studio album, has taken the billboard chart by storm, and created a massive influx of new Steve Lacy fans. Specifically, his song “Bad Habit,” which has blown up on tik tok, and even created a bit of controversy during Steve’s tour over fans who come to the concerts only seeming to know a few lines of the hit song and nothing more from the album.

Photos by Nathan Nguyen.

Steve Lacy brought the fire to open his set, with an extended interlude of heavy drums, guitar shredding, and ecstatic light fixtures, all to feed right into the first song of the night, “Buttons” from his latest album. Steve was accompanied by a live guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, and drumset player, all of which made the set electric, especially the drumset player and his way of controlling the upbeat vibe in songs like “Playground” from Steve’s Apollo XXI album. After opening with “Buttons,” and “Mercury,” the hit single dropped along with Bad Habit, Steve asked the fans, “who’s been around since the Apollo days?” Referring to his previous and first-ever studio album, Apollo XXI. Dallas made sure to let Steve know that they’d been around, and he wasted no time making everyone jump during “Playground,” and immediately after start tearing up during “N Side.” And to finish his songs from the album, Steve put on quite the show with his light fixtures during “Lay Me Down.” One of the most notable parts of the concert were the laser beam lights protruding from Steve’s main concert prop, the giant circular arrows with devil horns as shown on his album cover. The lasers were an art show of their own. Not only was there a unique display that went along with the beat and choruses of each song he played, but they also got low enough for the fans to stick their hands in the light and interact with them. No concert I’ve ever been to has been able to put on as much of a visual show as Steve’s props did, while also complimenting the groove of the music. Steve’s uniqueness and creativity shined through his visuals on this tour, and everything he did seemed to highlight his personality and virtuosity. The man is a creative genius, and the fact that he could make the concert not just about his music, but also border on looking like its own art installation is very impressive. Very few artists can do what he does, but leave it to Steve Lacy to impress you in all the ways you’re least expecting.

For the second half of the concert, Steve performed the rest of his songs from the Gemini Rights album, as well as “Ryd” and “Some” from Steve Lacy’s Demo, and “Infranumi” from The Lo-Fi’s. Steve sang several acoustic versions of songs from his newest album, including a beautiful rendition of “Helmet” that had Dallas fans singing their hearts out right with him. Steve even cracked a joke in reference to the “tik tok fans” who have been coming to his shows, only knowing a few words of his biggest songs and said, “put that on tik tok,” after a heart warming unison acoustic rendition of “Helmet” between himself and the entirety of the Dallas audience. And in fact, just as he requested, the clip had gone viral by the next morning. Other entirely acoustic versions of his songs that had the entire crowd singing with him included “Infranumi,” and “C U Girl” during his encore.

To finish off his set, Steve performed “Cody Freestyle,” “Amber,” “Give You the World,” and “Sunshine” all in succession. Fousheé came back on stage for her feature on “Sunshine,” and the crowd was blessed with a killer display of Steve’s guitar playing, performed live just like it sounded on the album. Sunshine, in my opinion, is the best song on Gemini Rights, and getting to hear it performed completely live was unforgettable. And finally, the moment all the “tik tok fans” had been waiting for, Steve performed his hit song, “Bad Habit.” The single has been wreaking havoc as No. 1 on the Billboard Charts ever since it took over Harry Styles “As it Was,” and Dallas knew every word. And as soon as the song was over, Steve split off the stage to go meet with a special guest that would soon join him on stage for quite the encore. When Steve came back out to the anxious fans, he was wearing a fur coat that he would explain was gifted to him by “the queen of Dallas,” who most from the area would immediately know was Erykah Badu. Steve then performed a beautiful acoustic version of “C U Girl,” the first song he ever wrote. And for one final song, Steve played “Dark Red,” and finished the show with an extended vamp to introduce and thank his entire live band, and welcome the legendary Erykah Badu to the stage for the final bang of the night.

Overall, Steve Lacy was a phenomenal show. The tour has faced lots of controversy for his radical behavior, but he made plenty of jokes about the moments the media and tik tok has seemingly outed him for, and really seemed to enjoy his Dallas set. His live vocal range was beyond impressive, and completely surpassed anything I could’ve expected, and Fousheé made for a great opener to compliment his set. Steve’s stage presence isn’t as entertaining as some other performers, but his musical abilities, and incredible creative display of his personality through his visuals keep you captivated the entire concert. I absolutely loved this concert, and I would absolutely go again. Steve puts on a show that makes you want to laugh, cry, jump, and scream all at the same time, and if you can manage to buy the tickets within the 3 seconds that they sell out, Steve guarantees an unforgettable night.