Concert review: Logic takes 'nerd power' to rousing extremes in Phoenix

Ed Masley | The Republic | azcentral.com

Logic was nearing the end of his crowd-pleasing concert at Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix when he followed a heartfelt rendition of "1-800-273-8255," a massive hit that takes it title from the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, by pretending he was being forced to leave the stage.

"My bad," he said. "They tellin' me it's curfew."

Then, he said his fake goodbyes, insisting it was time to go, as the theme music from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld" played behind him.

"This is what happens," he said with a laugh, "when you give a nerd power."

Merch lines as far as the eye could see

You could say the same for much of what went down at Wednesday's stop on the Bobby Tarantino Vs. Everybody Tour, where the merch lines suggested that Logic could safely retire, if he chose to, when this tour is through.

We're talking merch lines to rival Harry Styles.

He even challenged a 17-year-old named Tony (Stony Tony, Logic called him) to a best-out-of-five on a "Street Fighter" video game – and lost, saluting his worthy opponent with a chorus of "We Are the Champions" before leading the crowd in the flip side of that single, "We Will Rock You."

At a hip-hop concert.

'I want to be known as a great entertainer'

"Have you ever been to a show like this?," Logic asked at the end of the night.

"Have you been this (expletive) entertained at a rap show before? (Expletive) no. That’s how I want to be known. I want to be known as a great entertainer. I don’t want you to just come here and go 'Oh yeah, he rapped all the songs.'”

He did rap all the songs, though, after setting the tone with a "Rick and Morty" video in which the animated duo engaged in a heated debate over the finer points of Logic.

The duo finally agreed to "drop that 'Bobby Tarantino' (expletive)."

And with that, the rapper took the stage in his shorts and T-shirt and ripped into "44 More," a track on this year's mixtape, "Bobby Tarantino II," on which he memorably boasts about selling more albums the week his previous release came out than Styles or Katy Perry.

Peace, love and positivity

When that song was over, Logic told the crowd "I represent one thing" and asked, "Does anybody know what that one thing is?"

Everybody seemed to know exactly what that one thing is, given the fervor with which they shouted "peace, love and positivity" back at the rapper in unison.

After leading the fans in a chant of "peace, love and positivity," Logic gave a speech about how he wanted everyone to participate and have a fun time, closing his remarks with "I want everybody to feel invited, safe and happy. Is that okay?"

That segued seamlessly into a rap-along on "Everybody," whose opening line is "OK, I was gone for a minute but I'm back now." And they shouted even louder on the next song, "Overnight," when Logic hit the line, "Tell me, is it really so hard, really so hard, to be a good person?"

For all his talk of positivity and being a good person, Logic also took great pleasure in getting the crowd to shout "(Expletive) you" at him.

He's not a monk, you know.

You think a monk could rap as fast as Logic did on "Warm It Up" or "Gang Related?"

No, a monk could not.

Rapping all the songs (and more)

The set list touched on nearly all his biggest hits, including "Under Pressure," "Flexicution," "Fade Away," "44 More," "Everyday" and, of course, the Grammy-nominated "1-800-273-8255."

In addition to the songs the fans already knew, he played a single dropping Friday, the Ryan Tedder-assisted "One Day," and an unreleased song from the soundtrack to the movie of the novel he has yet to publish, "Supermarket."

Logic played piano on the new song and when he first sat down, he pretended to play the intro to Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" as it was piped in through the PA, following through with a bit of the song.

He also shared the spotlight with his DJ, saying, "My boy DJ Rhetorik's always had my back" before leaving the stage to Rhetorik, who performed his own song, "Shelter."

'I want to be playing stadiums'

By the time Logic counted the number of song he'd played, out loud, in the midst of his curfew shenanigans, he was at 21 songs.

Then he signed off with a rousing "Everyday," sent out to everyone who works hard everyday — at school, at work or both. And looking around at the crowd, it seemed like school would definitely still be a factor for most of those smiling young faces, including a 12-year-old, Parker, whose birthday Logic celebrated by leading the crowd in "Happy Birthday."

"I want to be playing stadiums one (expletive) day and we’re all there together, man," he told the fans before he sent them on their way with "Everyday." And having seen him work that room, I'd say that goal is still within his reach.

Setlist

"Grandpa's Space Ship"

"44 More"

"Everybody"

"Overnight"

"Killing Spree"

"Contra"

"Fade Away"

"Under Pressure"

"Take It Back"

"Wassup"

"Warm It Up"

"Super Mario World"

"Indica Badu"

"We Are the Champions"

"Midnight"

"Shelter"

"Wizard of Oz"

"Gang Related"

"Flexicution"

"We Will Rock You"

"One Day" (Unreleased Song)

"A Thousand Miles"

Unreleased song (from "Supermarket" soundtrack)

"1-800-273-8255"

"Everyday"

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