The Kid Laroi Makes His Mark On Indianapolis
Article by Kendall Eades
From the moment the main lights darkened, stage lights kicked on, and the screen visuals illuminated, fans were anxious for The Kid Laroi to take stage at “The First Time Tour” in the crowd at Everwise Amphitheatre at White River state park in Indianapolis, Indiana. The venue the concert was held at was an outside venue where fans pushed through the heat and enjoyed opening act artists Glaive and Chase Shakur to make it to The Kid Laroi who brought a new heat to the crowd.
Laroi’s setlist contained a variety of songs from his previous albums Fuck Love and The First Time along with some hit singles with collaborators sprinkled within. The show started off with the first song on the album The First Time titled “SORRY”. When the beat picked up in the song, so did the crowd, jumping to every beat with Laroi performing onstage. “Diva” was a hit with the crowd and Laroi’s energy and performance for that song was mesmerizing to watch. Towards the end of the show Laroi performed his smash hit from 2021 featuring Justin Bieber, “Stay”, and shed pure enjoyment watching the crowd include themselves in his fun.
Laroi spoke on how it was his first time performing a concert in Indianapolis, Indiana, and raved about how he wished he would have come before because he was impressed by how infatuated and supportive the crowd was. Laroi showed his gratefulness for everyone in the crowd from the pit to the seats then to the lawn farthest away from the stage by thanking them multiple times for coming. After his kind speech about his thankfulness for his fans, he asked for everyone in the crowd to put up their lights on their phones for the song “Without You”, the first song that gave him a big break with lots of recognition in 2021. The crowd lit the venue up and made that performance that much more infectious.
A huge part of The Kid Laroi’s concerts in which he is known for is the mosh pit which is usually set during his last song “Hatred”. The crowd was directed to created a circle and once the beat drops and Laroi gave the go, the crowd jumps and dances back to create an active and jumping crowd, it creates an awesome visual for energy to close out the show. When Laroi left the stage he left everyone with some advice and his famous line “Laroi’s got you”.
My personal favorite songs that were performed on the setlist were hard to choose, for the whole set was amazing. “Deserve You” was one of my favorite songs performed because I was ecstatic to hear my favorite song live. “Nights Like This”, which is a fan favorite, was beautiful from the lights on the stage to the audience's reaction. Next, I would love to give credit to a part of the set that was more slow but meaningful. As Laroi sat on a high pedestal prop from the stage he sang “Bleed” and “Heaven” in that order. Personally, these are my favorite slow songs he has produced because of the meaning and absolute catchiness. Even though he was sitting on that high up pedestal, the emotions he used to perform those songs made the emotions in the room even higher. Another personal moment from the show was the soundcheck and meet and greet I got to experience. The meet and greet was wonderful for me, but not to spoil my personal experience with Laroi, I will just share that he is kind and a very humble artist who really cares about his fans and their creativity. To go on, it was so intimate to hear Laroi soundcheck “So Done” which is not on the setlist and “Nights Like This”.
Overall, The Kid Laroi delivered a concert full of connection, liveliness, and sent every fan in attendance home with a touched heart. Whether fans know about Laroi’s uprising and past struggles or not, they now can feel a sense of proud for him after seeing how he’s taken his incomparable talent into a night they won’t forget. If anyone has the chance or even the slightest wonder as to if they should attend “The First Time Tour”, I would immediately tell them that they are missing out if they don’t go.
