During his Monday concert, GIVĒON set his wine glass on a candlelit table, shrugged off his coat and draped it around an audience member’s shoulders, serenading her in song to the giddy shrieks of the crowd. Upon being picked out from the crowd and invited to an onstage “date” with GIVĒON, the girl told him her name was Cherish.
“Cherish?” GIVĒON said. “How about I love you instead?”
R&B singer-songwriter GIVĒON performed at Chicago’s Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom on Monday night as a part of his “DEAR BELOVED” tour. He released his newest album, “BELOVED,” on July 11.
Under moody lighting and a haze of fog, GIVĒON often closed his eyes while punching or raising his arms in time with the music.
“When I perform, I have to put myself in the place that I was when I wrote the song,” he said to the audience. “So just a lot of the thoughts and emotions come rushing back.”
GIVĒON started creating “BELOVED” while in a relationship and ended it single. In an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, GIVĒON said that through the process of making the album and reflecting on its themes — passive-aggressiveness, dissatisfaction and fear of abandonment — he realized that version of himself shouldn’t have been in a relationship.
GIVĒON’s story resonates with young people in long-term relationships who are afraid of wasting life’s prime time committed to one person, all for it to end several years down the line. GIVĒON’s break up inspired the song “TWENTIES,” which includes the lyrics, “I poured my heart in it / Don’t get me started / Spend my time wondering why / I spent my twenties on you.”
The California-raised artist’s first song was his collaboration with Drake, “Chicago Freestyle,” which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. He performed a melodic rendition of the song to the Chicago audience, referencing a popular tourist site: “Two-thirty, baby, won’t you meet me by The Bean?” The song was a nice nod to the city that helped launch his career.
Throughout the concert, the lighting echoed GIVĒON’s quest to find love. Warm pink lighting reflected his foolish devotion in “RATHER BE,” changing to a somber blue in “NUMB.”
After his first two songs, he shed his fur robe, revealing a 1930s brown woven suit jacket and red gloves — an ode to the “BELOVED” album cover.
“Heartbreak Anniversary” surged with the crowd’s energy. The bass shook the floor and the audience’s voices swelled to the lyrics: “It’s cold outside / Like when you walked out my life / Why you walk out my life?”
Leaning into the universality of heartbreak, GIVĒON’s performance aligned with lyrics that hit close to home. Most people will experience that devastation at some point in their lives, and having prominent artists be open about their similar experiences humanizes them and their work.
GIVĒON’s openness throughout the night left a lasting impression, and his performance hasn’t escaped our minds since he left the stage for the final time.
Email: [email protected]
X: @YoniZacks
