Tropicalia ended just as strongly as it began and even more so. Day two brought on fantastic performances by artists like Baby Bash, Homeshake, Yellow Days, The Regrettes, Allah-Las, SWMRS, Chicano Batman, Clairo, Mac Demarco, SZA and many more.
Yellow Days played a set to a warm and receptive crowd. They got the crowd going with “That Easy,” “Your Hand Holding Mine” and “Hurt in Love.” Once “Gap in the Clouds” came on, everyone started singing the lyrics out loud. George then introduced “The Tree I Climb” by asking “who likes smoking weed?” which got lots of cheers in the California crowd. “Me too. This next song is about smoking weed.” He finished the set with “How Can I Love You.”
Los Angeles-based Allah-Las played a short and sweet set consisting of “Follow You Down,” “Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind),” “Had It All” and a few other songs. The crowd swayed along to the songs and enjoyed the set.
SWMRS played the most fun and intense set of the night. They had a great light show going on in the back and unbelievable stage presence. The crowd gave just as much back to the band as they gave to the audience, screaming the lyrics out loud along with the lead singer, Cole. They opened with “Harry Dean” and went into “BRB” and then “Miley,” which had the entire crowd jumping up and down. Cole asked everyone to jump on his brother’s count and made sure to note that he cared about everyone’s wellbeing. “If someone is groping you, we don’t condone violence, but punch them, and if you’re not having a good time, make it well known. We’ll stop the show and help you. We want everyone to be having the best time.” People crowd-surfed throughout the whole show because of how fun it was. The pit opened up halfway and all began moshing while they went into “D’You Have A Car?” and a couple others. They finished their set up with Cole coming into the barricade and feeding off the crowd’s energy, ending with the note that “music is forever.”
Chicano Batman played a nearly hour-long set that had the crowd content and full. They played “Run,” “Prophet for Profit” and a couple Spanish songs. When they went into “Black Lipstick,” the crowd erupted into roars and cheers. Lots of people who were seated stood up so they could dance along. They went onto “Magma” and finished their set with a few more songs. They mentioned it was almost their 10-year anniversary and expressed how grateful they were to be in Long Beach, playing to such a big crowd.
Clairo played a 30-minute set to a lot of people. So many people that she expressed how nervous she felt and that she wasn’t expecting this type of turnout. She opened with “B.O.M.D.” and went into “Drown,” “Get With U,” “Bubble Gum” and “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” which she introduced as a “song about snacks.” For “Pretty Girl” she asked the girls to push their way to the front and lots of guys made their way to the back. She finished strongly with “4ever” to a crowd that couldn’t stop swaying and singing along.
Mac Demarco was clearly born to do what he does. His stage presence is unmatched, and he had the whole crowd laughing with every joke he made. He’s an incredibly generous performer and gives so much to make sure everyone is having a great time. He came on the stage wearing some sort of fat suit, looking like a rotisserie chicken. Throughout the night, he would say he was feeling hot and then would shed off a layer of his outfit and reveal another fat suit in a different color. He opened his set with “On the Level” and then went into “Rock and Roll Night Club” and “Passing Out Pieces.” For “My Old Man,” he begged the crowd to sing along if we knew the lyrics, but the crowd wouldn’t give back the energy he was giving. For “Dreams from Yesterday,” he asked the lighting technicians to dim the lights and asked the crowd to hold up our phone lights “like a real rock show.” The crowd was full of shining lights. It was a beautiful sight and Mac was overtaken by the beauty of it. He finished off with “Still Beating,” “One More Love Song,” My Kind of Woman” and “Chamber of Reflection.” Demarco is clearly a beautiful soul full of beautiful music and sheer talent, and his set was a highlight of the night.
If anyone was disappointed that Cardi B canceled her set, they would have been more than happy with her replacement, SZA. She opened strong with “Supermodel” then went into “Anything,” a song about insecurities. She expressed how nervous she was to come out because “we were all here for Cardi, not me.” But she encouraged everyone to talk themselves out of those stupid thoughts because she put on an incredible show and the crowd was so incredibly gracious to be in her presence. She went into performances of “Broken Clocks,” “Go Gina,” “Drew Barrymore,” “Love Galore,” “Normal Girl,” “Wavy,” “Garden,” “The Weekend” and “All of the Stars.” She ended her set with “20 Something” and talked about how it feels to be in your 20s and asked the crowd to give themselves a pat on the back just for existing in this world and for moving forward and growing. SZA has the warmest stage presence and everyone was in such awe of her. She’s a beautiful person with an incredible voice. She switched up the flow in some of her songs and hit unbelievable high notes, which was met with loud cheers from the crowd. The crowd gave so much to SZA to let her know that they didn’t care that she wasn’t the original performer. Everyone loved her just as much as Cardi and was so thankful she came out and delivered the amazing show that she did.
Photo Credit: Owen Ela
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