Lil Yachty Brings His “The Field Trip Tour” to SummerStage in Central Park [Photos]

Night two of “The Field Trip Tour” seized New York’s SummerStage in Central Park as Lil Yachty gears up for 44 dates across North America and Europe through the remainder of the year.

2023 has been a year of expansion and consistency upon the creative consciousness of Lil Yachty, as he kicked the year off by venturing into psychedelic rock and soul with his fifth studio album, Let’s Start Here., back in January.

He continued his momentum by releasing TESLA – EP in August, which features the flourishing track “Strike (Holster).” He also appears on BlakkBoyz present Half Doin Dope/Van Gogh alongside J.I.D, which contains a leaked version of “Van Gogh” from 2019.

I couldn’t help but notice an ironic theme surrounding the demographic of those in attendance. It actually felt like a field trip because the majority of the crowd was young teens accompanied by their parents. Regardless, the crowd came energized and eager to experience the show. Brooklyn-based artist Nick Hakim drifted onto the stage to tranquillize the crowd with his fiery timbre and inviting ambience. His presence introduced a calm and thorough atmosphere that roused the audience’s attention ahead of the hallucinogenic experience to come.

Lil Yachty’s set list was segmented into three parts which included a wardrobe change after the opening section. The all-female band marched onto the stage in front of visuals that read “distort reality” over a sparkling constellation, followed by a montage of kaleidoscopic imagery to introduce Yachty to the spotlight for the first sequence of songs off of Let’s Start Here… The live band was a great addition to his production, and they were absolutely necessary for the grand execution of his new material.

It was nice to see his vocal range shine as he frequently isolated his voice and performed the entire verse from “Coffin” a cappella. He also performed Tee Grizzley’s part on “From the D to the A” as well as Playboi Carti’s verse on “Get Dripped” and Juice WRLD’s feature from “Yacht Club,” after a moment of silence for the late emcee. It was refreshing to hear a keyboard rendition of “One Night” to close out the second sequence of the set with a firm reminder that he’s not the same person he once was. He concluded the song by reflecting on his mindset from 2016 and changing lyrics in the second verse to:

“now I’m older, now I’m wiser, now I need somebody in my life who can take care of me. I’m looking for a wife, is she in the crowd? Is she in New York tonight? I don’t know, I’m trying to change my life around, I switched up my goals, I no longer only want a girl for a night, I changed up my ways, I’m trying to do you right.”

The show comes to a close after the band returns to finish the set with some of the remaining songs from Let’s Start Here., wrapping up the final segment with “the BLACK seminole.”

Let’s Start Here. is essentially the beginning of Yachty’s journey to becoming the artist he truly wants to portray. In an effort to gain “respect” as an artist, he broke the SoundCloud rapper stigma that surrounded his rise by taking the most unexpected yet progressive step into alternative forms of foundation to expand his musical pallet. Consistent releases, along with his experimentation of sound and vocal ability, seem to be the driving factors of development as Lil Yachty’s progression as a creative force continues. Lastly, a shoutout to the production crew at SummerStage because the audio mix was outstanding, and Yachty’s mic sounded crispy throughout the entire show.

Lil Yachty’s Set List:

drive ME crazy!
the ride-
pRETTy
sHouLd i B?
sAy sOMETHINg
In the Air Tonight – Phil Collins (Cover)

SOLO STEPPIN CRETE BOY
Slide
Split/Whole Time
Get Dripped
Yacht Club
NBAYOUNGBOAT
Flex Up
Coffin
From the D to the A
Minnesota
Broccoli
iSpy
TESLA
Poland
Strike (Holster)
One Night

IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!
THE zone~
WE SAW THE SUN!
the BLACK seminole.

Lil Yachty (w/ Nick Hakim) @ Central Park SummerStage (NYC) on September 22, 2023

14 photos