I’m not sure how I can put my joy for this concert into words but I’m going to try.

SZA, an alternative R&B singer, has been on tour for her S.O.S album since February of 2023. I wanted to go to her show in Atlanta but “All the Stars” were not aligning for me (please don’t roast me for my pun).

I decided to tease the idea of going and went to Ticketmaster the day tickets went on sale. There were no seats left for the section or amount I was willing to pay. I thought it was a bust so I told myself I’d just see her on the next tour.

Then, in April, she announced more dates later in the year. There wasn’t another Atlanta date but I did see one in my favorite city, Chicago.

My sister wanted to see SZA and she didn’t get to go in Atlanta either so we decided to make a trip out of it. We actually were looking at Chicago and Houston. I wanted to go to Chicago, she wanted to go to Houston.

The plan was to wait “in line” on Ticketmaster for each city and whichever one we got tickets to was the one we’d go to. The day of, we both weren’t having the best luck but, I wasn’t giving up.

Originally, I was in the app but I switched to my laptop and was finally able to grab tickets for Chicago!

We flew in the day of the concert which could’ve been risky but it was early enough to do some sightseeing and rest before we got ready.

Getting to United Center

The concert was at United Center, a venue I’d been to a few times in the past when I lived in Chicago during college. I’ve been driven here and have taken the blue line here. I originally planned for my sister and I to take public transportation but we were strapped for time and took a rideshare. It was $20 with tip. Keep this price in mind for later.

We arrived about 5 minutes before the doors opened. Luckily, our driver dropped us off in area that had a pretty short line.

Using the digital ticket, we scanned in and went straight for the merch table, the main reason I wanted to arrive when the doors opened.

Merch Table

There were multiple merch lines so we divided and conquered to find the shortest one. There were quite a few options. The merchandise consisted of:

• 1 tote ($30)
• 1 CD of S.O.S. ($15)
• 1 vinyl record of S.O.S ($30)
• 1 hoodie ($90)
• 2 hats ($40 each)
• 3 t-shirts ($45 each)
• 3 hockey jerseys ($60 each)

d4vd, her opener for this leg of the tour, also had merch which consisted of:

• 1 hoodie ($65)
• 1 shirt ($35)
• 1 vinyl record ($26)

Because I already knew I was getting a t-shirt and jersey, I didn’t even look at d4vd’s merch unfortunately. I didn’t realize he had a record until after the fact, or else I probably would’ve bought it there to avoid paying for shipping. If you couldn’t get merch at the concert or couldn’t go, you can get some from their websites: SZA (from the first leg of the tour), d4vd.

Our Seats

With our merch in hand, we went to our section. Coming into the arena, my heart stop for a millisecond and not for the reason you think.

See, right after I bought the tickets I had a slight panic because I realized where there seats were. We were in section 120 which is close to the side of stage. Sounds great, right? However, I was worried it would be too close.

Seats Past

The last time I was at this venue I ran into this issue. I bought day-of tickets to BTS, a K-Pop boy band, and was on level two of the arena on the far-right side of the stage. I couldn’t see the screens because of the walls set up on the stage blocked them and if the boys had a segment within those walls, I couldn’t see anything. I was very upset (that also could’ve been because I was not able to sit with my friend since my seat wasn’t in her section).

Seat Hoppers

Going back to the SZA concert, it seemed that other people in our section had my same worry. Would we be able to see everything?

My sister asked the section monitor (not sure of the official title) about potentially upgrading our seats but I didn’t budget to pay for an upgrade (especially since I kind of broke my budget getting the hockey jersey) so we stayed in our spots.

That didn’t mean our seat neighbors did the same. I’m pretty sure one couple did upgrade their seats but the others snuck past the seat monitor to sit somewhere else.

A mother and daughter that had sat in front of us moved, got caught during the opener, and just moved up closer.

Anyway, we’ll eventually realize that our seats were fine so let’s get to the show.

d4vd

d4vd is an indie singer who is SZA’s opener for the second leg of her North American Tour. When I found that out, I listened to some of his music before the trip. I liked it, personally. At first, I wasn’t sure how his music would fit with hers but I realized SZA is a bit alternative herself even with her being in the R&B category.

Seeing d4vd live was pretty awesome. He had great energy (he even did a couple of flips on stage which I wasn’t expecting)!

A couple of songs he performed I recognized from my pre-listening and then he sang, “Here With Me” which I recognized the chorus from TikTok.

Here’s his set list:

1. WORTHLESS
2. “Notes From a Wrist”
3. “Sleep Well”
4. “Take Me to the Sun”
5. “Here With Me”
6. “Poetic Vulgarity”
7. “The Bridge”
8. “Romantic Homicide”

I was actually shocked his set was on 30 minutes, I thought it’d be an hour or at least 45 minutes. We couldn’t see the graphics he had on the screen because of the dang wall but we could see him fine which was gave me a little relief but I was still nervous.

In Between Sets

It took about another 35 minutes before SZA came on and during that time you could see a major difference in the crowd from when we first came in.

Not only was the arena less than half-full earlier in the night but it seemed like a 3^rd of the crowd was 18 (maybe 20) and under. I’d seen someone post on Tiktok that they were one of the oldest people there, at the age of 28, but I thought it was just that location. At least for d4vd’s set, my sister and I were some of the oldest in the crowd (we’re 27).

After the opener, more grown folks started filing in. A woman who sat behind us came in really vibing to the DJ but the rest of our section had been sitting for at least an hour so we were just ready for SZA.

“Man, ya’ll lame!” she exclaimed when the section didn’t match her energy. My sister took this insult personally and that didn’t help our “we’re old” feeling we’d been discussing throughout the night (though I’m sure the woman was our age if not a little older).

After a few people in the floor seats had a dance off, the show finally got started.

Time for SZA!

My fears were quelled when the wall on our side turned into a screen. I could see the bassist, the drummer positioning themselves in front the screen. Then, SZA herself sitting was on a platform. And I could see her live without the screen! The screen eventually lifted up, revealing more of the stage which was built to look like a ship. It’s safe to say we were very satisfied with our seats at this point.

I was wowed by her performances! For some reason I hadn’t expected so much dancing. I loved when she brought her dancers out. The crowd interactions were fun too. The bassist and drummer would acknowledge our section often since they were playing right in front of us. Another positive was we could see SZA every time she exited on our side for a wardrobe change.

Storytelling Through the Show

One thing I loved about her concert is that each segment told a story. Since this is her S.O.S tour, it was all revolving around a ship voyage.

The first set of songs started out with her being on a docked ship. This where she performed songs like “Seek & Destroy” and “Broken Clocks”.

During a set change she put on “Forgiveless” one of my favorites from the S.O.S. album and came out on stage once her part came up.

The ship “sets sail” for the second segment. This is where she sung “Used” which went into a cover of Eryka Badu’s “Bag Lady”. She performed “Ghost in the Machine” in this set too which my absolute favorite on the album at the moment!

The next segment we take a break from the ship theme and it was more just vibes. For her wardrobe change, she performed “Smoking on My Ex Pack” in the midst of changing. We were treated to many throwbacks to the Ctrl album in this segment. I got to hear my favorite, “Drew Barrymore”. I have a lot of favorites.

Continuing with the ship theme, a “storm” comes through which causes a ship wreck. This is where her dancers were throwing down on that stage, okay? “Low” was such a great performance and it’s not over yet.

Save Our Ship!

The next segment she’s on a life raft that goes out into the crowd! I tried to limit my exposure of the tour so I was taken by surprise to see her suspended in the air on the yellow raft in a beautiful red dress. This is where she performs “Gone Girl” and, fittingly, “S.O.S.” I especially appreciated the effects team during the segment because of how they played with the lighting and the smoke machine to creating a moving water effect in the air.

I guess the life raft goes under because the next segment is all “underwater”. One of the songs she does in this segment is “Kill Bill”.

The last segment ends with her in the clouds (a morbid yet beautiful note because I’m assuming she’s in heaven) singing “Good Days”. The screen show the clouds filled with the colors of sunset, pinks, oranges, and yellow.

The Set List

Here’s the full set list:

1. PSA
2. Seek & Destroy
3. Notice Me
4. Love Galore
5. Broken Clocks
6. Forgiveless
7. Used
8. Bag Lady (cover)
9. Ghost in the Machine
10. Blind
11. Shirt
12. Smoking on My Ex Pack
13. All the Stars
14. Prom
15. Garden (Say It Like Dat)
16. F2F
17. Drew Barrymore
18. Doves in the Wind
19. Low
20. Open Arms
21. Supermodel / Special / Nobody Gets Me (medley)
22. Gone Girl
23. SOS
24. Kiss Me More
25. Love Language
26. Snooze
27. Kill Bill
28. I Hate U
29. The Weekend
30. Good Days

Overall Thoughts of the Concert

I had such great time hearing one my favorite artists live and I was surprised that I felt surprised by how much I enjoyed myself! The week prior she wasn’t feeling good but she sounded amazing that night. She even said our energy put her in a good mood!

The fact that I was able to hear all of my favorites sung my SZA live, put me in a great mood too.

Getting Back

At the end of the concert, we ended up taking another rideshare back. United Center sets up an Uber Zone booth after events to make it easier to control traffic. You can use Lyft in that zone as well but it will show as “The LVP Zone” in the app. I would’ve preferred to take the CTA especially since we had the Ventra passes but my sister didn’t want to walk.

We ended up waiting nearly 40 minutes not only to get the driver but for that driver to come pick us up. We would’ve already been at our hotel if we had just walked to the bus or blue line station in that time, I’m just saying.

And remember how it was $20 to get there? Well, the price tripled after the concert so it was $60 (another reason why I wanted to take the CTA).

Tip: When going to a concert, wear/bring comfortable shoes and take public transportation after to save money (but be aware of your surroundings for safety).

Besides the rideshare slightly souring the night for me, I had a great time and was ready for our next day in Chicago.

Check back next week for how we spent our second day and third day of activities in Chicago. The YouTube video for the SZA concert will be out Tuesday.

In the meantime, what’s your favorite SZA song? Have you gone to any of her concerts before? Do you have any concert tips? Let me and your fellow overthinkers know in the comments!

Bonus photos of my and my sister’s outfits for the concert: