PartyNextDoor Is Unapologetically Outside This Summer: Concert Review

BYAron A.3.6K Views
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PartyNextDoor tour
Photo Credit: Fouad Jreige
PartyNextDoor's ran through a decade-plus-spanning set on the "Sorry I'm Outside" tour that delved into deep cuts, reference tracks & "P4" hits.

PartyNextDoor has seemingly underestimated his star power over the years; a nonchalant pioneer of our time. His impact is undoubted, as we’ve seen the soundscape of R&B evolve alongside him, whether through the seductive bedroom gems that he unleashed on Soundcloud or bodies of work, like the first three installments of the PND series, that shifted R&B each time through nocturnal soundscapes or island-flavored hits that dominated summers. Or even the diamond and soon-to-be-diamond hits he wrote like Rihanna’s “Work” and DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts.” 

His mystique has played into certain narratives, such as those that suggest his role at OVO is to primarily pen Drake’s music. But the reality is that Party earned the luxury of being a reclusive auteur who works on his own time rather than becoming a machine churning out hits, which he's more than capable of doing. “I get into relationships and then music becomes second,” he told Billboard earlier this year. “I think I’m going to take a break from relationships, a long break, and just get back to making music.”

With the release of P4 earlier this year, PartyNextDoor is sticking to the course. As understated of a project that P4 might be in the grander discourse of 2024 releases, its impact didn’t miss the OVO Stans who patiently waited four years between PartyMobile and his latest album. On Monday, he touched down in Montreal for the first time in eight years for the Sorry I’m Outside tour. It marked the first of two back-to-back sold-out shows at MTelus, a venue with a capacity of 2,300 – an indication that he miscalculated his demand. In fact, by the end of Monday’s show, he acknowledged that he’d book a bigger room for the next time he hits the road... whenever that might be.

Photo Credit: Fouad Jreige

With the backing of a keyboardist, guitarist, and drummer, he emerged onto the fog-filled stage from an oval-shaped portal to the subdued DMX sample from his single, “Lose My Mind." The quartet of dancers that accompanied him, dubbed the Angels Girls, appeared at the fore of the stage as he played the background and breezed through records like “Cheers,” “For Certain,” and the tour’s namesake, “Sorry But I’m Outside." But without exerting much command of the stage, the crowd ate from the palm of his hands. The Angel Girls get plenty of credit, though. They served as a personification of the muses that inspired his catalog of heartbreak and lust when he serenaded them.

Though the records off of his latest album brought him on tour, the bulk of his fans have been around for over a decade anxiously awaiting the records that catapulted him to this stage in his career. Party's catalog from 2013 and 2017 secured him a cult-like following, so records from PartyNextDoor 1, including “Break From Toronto”  and “Wus Good/Curious,” washed the crowd over with elation as much as his collaborations with Drake, whom he's reportedly working with currently on a collaborative album. “Wednesday Night Interlude,” for example, served as a mid-show break for the band to shine, while P’s recorded vocals led a karaoke-like portion of the evening. But by the time he re-emerged after the IYRTITL cut, it was like he snapped into a comfort zone that found him gravitating even deeper toward the crowd's energy.

Photo Credit: Fouad Jreige

The band was the MVP of the evening, amplifying the songs into their anthemic qualities from their original Soundcloud-ready forms, and providing smooth transitions through each song that didn’t allow much of a break and limited the amount of crowd interactions that PartyNextDoor had in the night. Songs like “Loyal” closed out with an electrifying solo and heavily distorted guitar riffs gave “Make It To The Morning” stadium rock-like qualities that shook through the theatre. But, as much as Party's vocal prowess shone brighter, with or without auto-tune, across his set, the moments where backing tracks played out had mixed effects. In some cases, like “No Chill,” his raw vocals began to clash with the recording and the crowd. In others, it allowed him to dive into different pockets through ad-libs and harmonies that added more depth to the original record. 

For day-one PartyNextDoor fans, the Sorry I’m Outside tour marks an appropriate celebration of his career to date and a catalog that’s had a distinct impact in R&B. Perhaps not a groundbreaking trek by any measure, it's a refreshing one that sees one of the most mysterious figures in R&B finally step into the spotlight and celebrate a catalog that few of his R&B contemporaries could rival. His core fans were treated to several records that never saw the Billboard charts under his name, such as “Persian Rugs” or his reference track for “Work." Meanwhile, hit records off of P4, Partymobile, and previous albums were given a facelift that matched the exuberant energy of a crowd who used his catalog as a gospel to summer flings and relationship woes.

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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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