By Benjamin Wallen //
Childish Gambino //
Fox Theater Oakland – Oakland
May 6th, 2014 //
Childish Gambino (born Donald Glover) finally made it to a sold-out Fox Theater Oakland on Tuesday for a rescheduled performance after a last-minute cancellation in February. That original date was also supposed to be the opening night of his current tour, but the show could not go on at that time “due to hardware issues beyond my control,” according to Glover.
Sounds of a dial-up modem trying to connect to the internet were the first sounds heard, failing over and over again with many “busy” tones. Finally, a sound of connectivity broke through the static hiss and the room immediately came alive. Walking onto the stage mimicking his album cover zombie face, Gambino took a seat at the piano to start, but things quickly escalated into a high-energy set as we expected.
Gambino bounced around the stage, even taking fans’ cell phones for some onstage selfies. The lights and production rivaled big household names and delivered in every way possible. Soul, hip-hop and the occasional space odyssey gave the Bay Area the very best of what they love about Childish Gambino.
Following the lead from his most recent album Because the Internet, the current tour includes a live feed from his “leaked” Snapchat account to a large screen behind the stage. This allowed fans in attendance to post messages on the screen and scribble ones to other fans. ‘Bino himself used the medium to spoil HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and reference other moments in pop culture. With a mega-youthful crowd on hand, it made sense for Glover to lace “digital age of information” aspects into his art, creating a unique experience and a memorable evening in Oakland.
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