In 2015, Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment released “Surf,” an album that defied genre conventions, fusing jazz, hip-hop and neo-soul to create an entirely new sound. On Saturday, Nico Segal (formerly Donnie Trumpet) returned to Chicago 10 years later to perform the beloved classic, plus a full set of both new and familiar songs. He was joined by a laundry list of guest performers at Metro.
What may easily be the best and most memorable concert of my life began with two fabulous opening acts from local Chicago artists. The O’My’s, with lead singer Maceo Vidal-Haymes, opened first and shocked the whole crowd with Vidal-Haymes’ uniquely beautiful soul-rich vocals.
Shortly after, studioSHAPES artists, including Renzell, Lonzo, Recoechi, Moyana and more, ran a nearly hour-long second set. They brought out RHOME (Weinberg ’23), this year’s A&O Productions Blowout opener, and other local artists including Rich Robbins, Young(In) and myekehl. If any of those names ring a bell, it’s because many of them shared the stage alongside RHOME at Blowout on Thursday. They put on a similarly high-energy performance on Saturday, this time in a much more intimate venue.
After these opening performances, The Social Experiment — composed of Chicago artists Segal, Chance the Rapper, Peter CottonTale, Nate Fox and Greg “Stix” Landfair Jr., took the stage — and, man, was I in for the night of my life.
Throughout the show, Chance would come on stage to perform a few songs, walk offstage and out would come a legendary surprise artist to perform their signature cuts. This was a repeating pattern, and I cannot express how overstimulating, yet transcendent this experience truly was.
The set began with Segal performing his trumpet solo “Nothing Came to Me,” quickly followed by Chance’s arrival, which sent the crowd into an uproar. The band played “Miracle” and “Wanna Be Cool,” then brought out Vidal-Haymes to perform “Slip Slide.”
From the moment Chance began to rap his first lyric, the energy in the room was palpable. The crowd, clearly packed with long-time listeners, knew every lyric and could not have provided better enthusiasm.
Chance then left the stage as Chicago native Joey Purp came out to perform “Go” and one of his own songs, “Elastic.” Immediately after, too-often underrecognized artist Saba took the stage to perform his verse from “SmthnthtIwnt.” Segal paused to show love for Saba, calling it a “full-circle moment” for him, as the two were in a program called YouMedia where they used to write poetry in a library together.
“I remember when we first went and we saw how incredible all the Pivot guys were,” Segal said. “In Chicago, that could’ve made us mortal enemies, but you know what, we instantly became fans.”
That spirit — admiration over rivalry — pulsed in every beat of Segal’s set. The crowd cheered like each win belonged to everyone.
Chance came back on stage to perform a few more songs from the album, taking a moment to applaud his band: “These are some of the greatest players you’ll ever hear in your life. I hope you recognize that.”
The show continued, and — you guessed it — out came another surprise artist. DRAM performed “Caretaker” from “Surf” along with “D.R.A.M. Sings Special” from Chance’s 2016 mixtape “Coloring Book” and his own hit “Cha Cha.” During his energetic performance of “Cha Cha,” DRAM dropped into the photo pit and interacted with the crowd as he performed, hyping up the entire Metro.
Chance then returned to perform the band’s rendition of the kid’s show “Arthur” theme song, “Wonderful Everyday: Arthur.” He slipped in a freestyle interlude, shouting out each band member and mentioning his recent album “Star Line.”
Soon after, the band performed “Something Came to Me,” in which Segal’s trumpet stole the show. Afterward, he shared a brief anecdote describing his initial hesitance to include the song on the album, but Chance urged him to keep it — a “formative moment in my music-making life,” he said.
Segal then took a moment to reflect on “Surf” and what it meant to him to platform unheard voices. He joked about peoples’ first listens — how they would ask themselves, “What is this verse?” — posed as a gateway to discovery of new artists and sounds. Now he’s intent on ushering in the next generation of talent — the Sabas and Nonames still yet to be discovered, Segal said.
With that in mind, he welcomed Moyana, Recoechi and Lonzo back onto the stage and the group performed a new song from the teased “Surf two.”
Then Kaicrewsade — last spring’s A&O Philfest opener — and Chris Robbin’ came out to perform another unreleased song. Moments later, more insanely talented guests appeared: VIC MENSA and Ephra, who performed a third and final unreleased track before the night’s last surprise.
Segal then introduced the final guest of the night: singer-songwriter Jamila Woods. She opened with “Questions,” and for the final two songs of the show, we were in for a long-awaited treat.
Chance came back out onto the stage and the group performed “Blessings” from “Coloring Book,” then closed the night with — of course — “Sunday Candy,” blowing the roof off Metro in what may be the most angelic live performance I have ever witnessed.
Segal ended the night thanking everyone, both behind the scenes and in the audience.
“This has been a dream come true,” Segal said. “You have no idea how many blood, sweat and tears went into making this moment happen. So, thank you all, each and every one of you, for being in this room, you’re the reason this happened. And we sold this b— out! Ten years later!”
Email: johnrivera2027@u.northwestern.edu
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