Toronto traffic thwarted my plans to catch all of Kehlani’s openers, but I persisted. But I should have expected it, given that this stop on the Kehlani World Tour sold all 16,000 seats in the RBC Amphitheatre! For those who had tickets for her suddenly cancelled show in 2024, this show was a long time coming. 

The first thing I hear as I walk into the venue is the serenading voice of opener, The Arti$t. The New Jersey-born R&B artist expertly engaged the milling audience with different sides of their catalogue, including their viral 2023 single, “Sober”. Before heading off the stage, she made sure to enlist the crowd’s help to say a loud, “Thank you, Kehlani!”

Last but not least is the Grammy Award-winning Durand Bernarr. With an irresistible stage presence and a plethora of props, he took us on a sonic journey starting with his latest album, BERNARR, before diving into older favourites. He thrilled the crowd with his rapturous self-love anthems, impressive vocal runs and spontaneous dancing. By the end of his set, we were all cheering, laughing and feeling ourselves. 

After Durand Bernarr’s set, our MC and resident DJ, Wa$eel, set the mood further by playing some popular tunes before Kehlani took the stage. In chatting with us, he proudly revealed he was a proud Palestinian American, which was received with loud cheers from the crowd. His inclusion in the tour was no surprise since Kehlani has repeatedly shown support for the Palestinian cause. 

Once Kehlani arrived, the crowd was so loud that I could barely hear her. Her entrance was an entire event on its own, complete with intentional storytelling, colourful stage design, and a dance number that put all others to shame. It was immediately clear to me that this production was a well-oiled machine with Kehlani at her peak. For the most part, her performance centred on her latst self-titled project, but she made some space for past albums with fan favourites including “Piece of Mind”, “Hate the Club,” “Serial Lover,” and “Nights Like This”. 

Most of Kehlani’s performance had dance at the centre, but vocals weren’t skimped on, cementing her place as a top performer in modern R&B. Her dancers also received multiple spotlights, acting as her fictional friend group for the night as she took us through a fictional retelling of the night before. The dancers also joined her as she went around the stadium during a performance of the club-ready hit “After Hours” to get up close and personal with fans, especially those in the back. 

If it wasn’t already clear that the album, Kehlani, was an homage to the R&B greats, she made sure to restate the point by adding further nods through visuals and song arrangements. One minute, she was dancing like MJ, complete with a low-slung fedora, and the next she was merging her song “Serial Lover” with Ne-Yo’s “So Sick”. Another point she emphasized was her queerness. During the performance of “Oooh”, she and a female dancer engaged in some heated role-play, and the crowd went wild. This section of the tour has already gone a little viral, with many fans applauding her continued championing of queer rights and storytelling.

To wind down the show, Kehlani performed “Unlearn”, the heartfelt last track on her latest album and a self-proclaimed letter to God. She did so with the help of her openers (Dixson, The Arti$t, Durand Bernarr) and the crowd’s flashlights, which lit up the night sky. She took the time to praise each opener for their skill and thanked them for joining her on stage each night. 

Before diving into her last song, “Folded”, Kehlani also made sure to thank us for getting the song to where it did. “This song changed my life.” She joked that despite the haters, she’d never stop singing it and it would go down as one of the classic R&B party songs. Based on the numbers, she might be right; I can’t see any other song replacing “Folded” anytime soon. Singing along with the entire stadium was a perfect way to end the night. 

Image Credits: @chaz.arellano