From the moment that Kendrick Lamar appeared on stage at Saturday night's (8/6) Barclays Center stop of The Big Steppers Tour -- his second of two consecutive nights at the Brooklyn arena and second of three NYC-area shows this weekend -- you could tell that he was about to put on the show of a lifetime, and he spent the next 90 minutes or so doing exactly that. I've seen Kendrick put on a number of life-affirming shows over the years, but the Big Steppers Tour is on an entirely different level, and unlike anything else he's ever done. Not that anything less would be expected from the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize, but the whole experience was like high art, from the intense choreography and remarkable dancers to the shapeshifting aesthetic of the stage setup to the storyline that tied the entire setlist together. It was too thrilling to ever feel pretentious, and no matter how artsy things got, it was still just as much of a rap show as the ones Kendrick used to play in clubs and warehouses with just him and a DJ. And just the pure act of watching Kendrick rap remains one of the most stunning things you can witness in a live music setting. The props and dancers and costume changes aren't crutches to make up for anything, they just added so much awe-inspiring imagery to what would've been a great rap show regardless.
Like Kendrick's new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, the show began with "United In Grief," with the song's opening line "I hope you find some peace of mind in this lifetime" played over the PA as Kendrick's dancers marched down the runway towards the curtain-covered stage. When the curtain fell, it revealed a stage setup that mirrored the therapy session theme of the album, with a dimly lit bed and nightstand. On the other side of the stage was a piano that had a ventriloquist dummy sitting on it, and a man playing the piano, with his back facing the stage. That man was Kendrick himself, as everyone in Barclays Center realized once he opened his mouth to start rapping. When he got to the song's livelier second half, Kendrick stood front and center stage at a mic stand with the ventriloquist dummy, who was rapping along. And when he went right into the album's second song, its single "N95," it turned into a straight-up rap show with everyone in the room shouting along. He'd already shown off so many different sides of this show, and he was just two songs in.