[Review] Lil Yachty’s The Field Trip Tour

Lil Yachty’s Field Trip Tour brought the 26-year-old to The Fillmore in New Orleans on Wednesday night. It’s been six years since I last saw Lil Yachty live. In 2017, he performed inside at the 6th annual BUKU Music + Arts Project at Mardi Gras World. The then 19-year-old was just kickstarting his career and working with artists like DRAM, Kyle, and Chance the Rapper. At BUKU, he had hundreds of fans screaming his infamous “Lil Boat!” adlib. Fast forward six years, four albums, and two mixtapes, Lil Yachty has grown from a SoundCloud star to experimental rapper.

The Field Trip Tour was just that. A trip to a different environment or in this case, Yachty’s world. It kicked off with a multitude of opening acts including Stoop Lauren, the Concrete Family, and Nick Hakim. From alternative, indie sounds to the sounds of underground Atlanta rapping, each opener brought something different to the stage. And it’s important to note that the Concrete Family are Lil Yachty’s signees: Camo, Draft Day, Moe, and Karrahboo. Opening for the show was great exposure for the up-and-coming rappers and allowed them to cultivate a fanbase of their own!

Lil Yachty

The lights went down at 9 and the word “WELCOME” flashed across the screen – after a warning that the performance could potentially trigger people with epilepsy. Then psychedelic, colorful visuals appeared on the screen as Lil Yachty’s all-female live band took the stage. Screams erupted as the Grammy nominee took the stage and opened the show with a performance of his soul-filled track “drive ME crazy!”

The Field Trip Tour highlights Lil Yachty’s latest album, “Let’s Start Here,” which is a critically acclaimed alternative psych-rock album. But, the Grammy nominee also included some of his biggest songs from his discography on the setlist: “Coffin”, “iSpy”, “Brocolli”, “NBAYOUNGBOAT”, and the song that started it all, “One Night.”

His stage set-up? Relatively simple but his set was amplified by the lighting, visuals, background singers, and that all-female live band I mentioned earlier. He was joined on stage by drummer Monica Carter, bassist Téja Veal, guitarist Quenequia Graves, pianist Kennedy Avery Smith, and the band’s vocalists Lea Grace Swinson and Romana R. Saintil. I appreciated how he took a moment to highlight each member on stage and give them a moment to shine very early into his set.

Now let’s talk about the fans! One word to describe the crowd could be enthusiastic, another could be chaotic! Fans were lined up around the block when I arrived at the venue around 7:45 PM. And throughout the next three hours, their energy did not dwindle. Between the (multiple) mosh pits and crowd surfing, the show was a high-energy affair all night long! In fact, at some points, you could feel the ground shaking as fans jumped along to Yachty’s set. And unlike some artists, Yachty took time to connect and chat with his fans throughout the night. He even wished one fan who was front and center a happy birthday!

After performing for almost an hour and a half, Yachty finished the night with a performance of “the BLACK seminole,” which is ironically the first song off of his latest album.

After 6+ years, I can confirm Lil Yachty has still got it. He’s more than got it. If his latest album and this tour have shown anything, it’s that this is just the beginning. Interested to see what the future holds for the 26-year-old and what musical route he takes next.