Last weekend, Vietnamese-American alternative artist keshi brought his sold-out North American “HELL/HEAVEN” tour to an end with a final stop in his hometown of Houston. Opener rei brown took the stage first, warming up the crowd for the rest of the night with track after track of mesmerizing lo-fi and indie sounds. I distinctly remember the first time I listened to his song “Picture Frames,” walking back to my college dorm in the middle of the night after having spent all evening alone in labs. It is rare that I cry upon first listen to a new artist, to a song that just randomly came on shuffle, but it happened then. So, hearing “Picture Frames” live for the first time in the dim lights of the House of Blues was a magical experience.
keshi kicked off his set with an intense performance of “GET IT,” the opening song of the album he was touring with, “GABRIEL.” The audience screamed along to the entire two minutes and thirty-two seconds. With each lyric that referenced Houston, the sound of the crowd grew louder and louder, reaching a deafening roar that said, yes, you, you are one of us. Towards the end of the set, the atmosphere calmed as he performed what is, in my opinion, the best 3-song run-off of his new album— ”LIMBO,” “ANGEL,” and “GABRIEL.” With softer, more emotional tracks that highlight keshi’s distinct, beautiful falsetto, this final part of the show had every person in the room enraptured.
With an encore of “2 soon,” perhaps the most popular song from his early days, keshi brought his concert, and tour, to a thunderous close. I can’t wait to see what he has planned for the future.
