Post Malone is riding high on his sold-out nationwide Beerbongs & Bentleys tour. I had the pleasure of covering his Raleigh, NC show last Friday night which was a sellout at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek. The tour featured songs from Malone’s second and most recent studio album Beerbongs & Bentleys released in April from Republic Records and also included songs from his first album Stoney which was released in December 2016.
Austin Richard Post (Post Malone) was energized as he took the stage on Friday night performing a solo set. Rain and thunderstorms had plagued Raleigh the entire week prior to the show, so there was a huge sigh of relief when Malone took the stage on time. Malone’s tour featured all the hits you’d expect to hear like “White Iverson,” “Candy Paint," "Psycho” and “Go Flex” that got the crowd hyped. He also surprised fans with an emotional performance of one of his most popular hits “I Fall Apart” halfway through the night, following that with a few acoustic songs off both albums including "Feeling Whitney" and "Stay."
Watching Malone 15 rows back, you could tell that performing on stage in front 20,000 dedicated fans is something that he truly enjoys doing. Malone comes from a very rocky past, but he has overcome those challenges and focused on his gift of music, which blew up after the release of his massive breakout hit “White Iverson”. Throughout the show, he shared stories of his struggles along with other challenges artists face when their success happens overnight, saying “everyone else wanted to talk shit to me, put me down.” He said that he couldn’t do it without the support of his core group of friends who encouraged him saying “you’ve got something really special here and you should keep going, keep pushing yourself.”
Malone also told a story about the first guitar he received from his “beautiful mother” at the age of 12 and how that led him to write music and eventually move to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career in music.
It was truly remarkable to see Malone perform in front of 20,000 screaming fans living his dream night in and night out, especially when he concluded his set with a blowout performance of “Congratulations”.
While the concert attracted a mostly under 21 demographic, I wouldn’t let that deter an older reader from attending his next show. I would also love to see him perform with a live band the next time he comes through town, but it was still the energy packed concert that fans had hoped for.
Malone’s set was preceded by an opening act from 21 Savage, which was actually lacking much excitement. I was disappointed when 21 Savage did not come to out to perform his featured verse during “Rockstar” one of Post’s biggest hits off the new Beerbongs & Bentleys album. Beerbongs & Bentleys U.S. tour dates will continue through the end of June before he begins his European leg from July to September with stops in the U.K., Norway, Italy, Spain and France.
Opener: 21 Savage
