Photos by: Aaron J. Thornton
Rod Wave, a Recording Artist known for his soulful voice incorporating rap and r&b, performed in front of an almost full Little Caesars Arena in Detroit as part of his ‘Last Lap’ tour on Wednesday night. The 26 year old Wave, who was born and raised in Florida, released his first album in 2019 and has developed a large following over the past five years. Despite having not won any major awards in the music circuit yet, he has had nominations from the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and iHeart Music Awards. However, from the atmosphere that was on display last night for his show, it is without doubt that the awards will be coming in the future.
Wave’s tour stop in Detroit this time featured opening acts by Eelmatic, Dess Dior, Lil Poppa, Toosii, and Moneybagg Yo. All of them came out to a welcoming crowd that was mostly made up of twenty-somethings, full of energy and very diverse in ethnicities. Dess Dior also brought out local Detroit Rapper Tay B who brought the audience to its feet in support of the hometown artist. All the openers sparked the crowd in anticipation of the main act that was forthcoming.
Although there was a lot of buzz throughout the opening acts, fans grew weary and frustration started to build as they had to sit and wait for Wave, who came out an hour after Moneybagg Yo, who preceded him, finished his set. The delay resulted in Wave starting his performance an hour and a half after his original scheduled set time.
During the unplanned long break, some fans questioned if he (Wave) was even going to actually perform. As the anxiety of most reached a high, the lights finally went down indicating he was ready to take the stage, and the energy and excitement quickly was revived.
After an intro video, Wave rose up from below the stage and walked to the center in a hoodie and sweats greeting his screaming fans. His first song was ’Nostalgia’, a song from his fifth album released in 2023 called ‘Nostalgia’. His entire set included over 23 songs including a tribute video to Derek Lane, better known as “Uncle Dee”, who was Wave’s Uncle and longtime Manager. Lane passed away in July of this year.
Song after song, Wade kept his fans singing, dancing, and engaged to music from all of his albums including his latest and sixth that was released in October, which bears the same title as his tour ‘Last Lap’. It’s hard to say which of the many songs was the crowd’s favorite as all of them brought cheers and liveliness. From “Heart on Ice”, “Fall Fast in Love”, “Passport Junkie”, “Fight the Feeling”, “Rags 2 Riches”, and many others. In many of the songs, the music was briefly turned off to reveal fans continuing to sing the lyrics for several additional bars.
Wave performed for over an hour captivating the audience with special lighting as well as dazzling pyro effects shooting down onto the stage. He even stepped onto a crane that lifted him high into the air and extended him out above the audience. The unique elevated stage design allowed fans to almost surround the complete stage with the exception of the walkway from one end of the arena.
After performing his hit song “25”, from his most recent ‘Last Lap’ album, he thanked the crowd and was lowered back down below the stage where he started from. Although everyone was elated and fulfilled, Wave was not done as he rose again from below the stage to perform an encore, singing the songs “Federal Nightmares” and “Lonely” before sending the thousands in attendance on their way. Undoubtedly, they surely left the venue with his tunes temporarily ingrained in their minds for the ride home and the satisfaction of a show to remember.
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