Jones got everyone tellin’ they momma
It was a brisk night waiting in line at the Echo, but things were starting to heat up inside in anticipation of Topaz Jones performing on Tuesday. While it wasn’t packed to the brim initially, people would trickle in as the night progressed.
The show kicked off at 7 p.m. with a DJ set from DJ VIVALATINA. Her set featured a variety of mash-ups of songs, mixing Kaytranada, Tyler, The Creator, Gunna and many others together to provide a different, refreshing and enjoyable vibe.
The Echo isn’t the biggest venue in Los Angeles, but that only made the experience with the crowd more intimate. The person furthest from the stage was probably only 20 feet away from the three acts.
VIVALATINA’s set went on for around an hour, with her saying very little — letting the music do the talking. And it showed as people grooved, danced and nodded their heads to her music selection.
After signing off, the lights went back on and the audience went back to chatting with whoever they came with while they waited for the 2nd set, Huey Briss. The Long Beach native would arrive slightly late for his set, citing traffic as his reason, which is typical for L.A. at 8 p.m. His DJ did a mini-set — only one song — before Briss came dashing onto the stage.
Comedically, so did his 2-year old daughter, who was running around the stage and needed to be seated before he performed his first song. After his opening song, his daughter was taken backstage and Briss continued rapping, even going a cappella at one point. While many didn’t know the words to Briss’ songs, he brought an energy to his set that was infectious and had the fans chanting along to whatever he wanted them to chant.
After his set, it went back to a brief intermission until it was time for headliner Topaz Jones to hop onstage and give the performance that the audience came for. He kicked it off with the first song of his 2021 project “Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma,” “Mirror,” where he brought out California native Leven Kali who was unannounced for this concert. Both shared their moment and their chemistry was apparent, with both basking in the spotlight.
This was Jones’ first live performance in four years, but that wasn’t apparent as he delivered quite the spectacle, oozing with confidence. He was racing across the stage, dancing and interacting with the crowd, all with a massive smile on his face from cheek to cheek.
The Montclair native brought passion and fun to the first date of his four-date tour for DGTYM Jones performed an hour-long set in the small yet packed Echo, showcasing his documentary, which accompanied the project and won a Sundance Award, in acts. He showed his discussion with lawyer and activist Keith White, which highlighted social aspects of black culture and life.
Jones performed many of his songs off of DGTYM, such as “Black Tame,” “Amphetamines” and “Rich,” as well as his 2018 hit track “Tropicana.” Jones was very animated throughout his set as he danced and performed theatrics that accompanied his lyrics, such as pretending to apply eyedrops after rapping “I need to buy some eyedrops” when performing “Sourbelts.”
Jones also performed his verse from his BET cypher which was released the same day.
Jones went on to finish off the night with a new song which he called a “world premiere,” where he crooned the lyrics of the chorus and then rapped the verses, which is a formula he follows in many of songs. Afterwards, he shared the limelight with his instrumentalists, Cam Griffin on the guitar, Daniel Abraham on the keyboard, and Jayvid Borja on the drums, with each having their moment to shine.
The audience cheered on for an encore as Jones shaked hands with the three aforementioned musicians and nearly walked off before addressing the chants. While Jones said he didn’t have an encore planned for his show, he would perform a verse that wasn’t recorded for his BET cypher.
Jones left everything out on the Echo’s stage, as he was visibly drenched in sweat and his fans appreciated it. His interaction with the audience, his groovy and high energy songs and performance and his brief intermissions where he talked about life with those in attendance made it highly entertaining and a reason as to why his stock as an artist continues to rise.