R&B and soft pop artist Khalid visited Atlanta to kick off an electric performance at the State Farm Arena on Wednesday, August 14. Following the release of his 17-track album, Free Spirit, Khalid announced the Free Spirit Tour earlier in the year, along with bedroom pop artist Clairo as the opening act. 

Clairo opened with viral Internet songs such as “Pretty Girl”, “Flaming Hot Cheetos”, and “4EVER”. These soft, groovy vibes allowed the crowd to sway while they eagerly waited for the main performance. Clairo rocked the guitar and embraced her unique style of smooth and subtle dancing during her performance. 

After Clairo’s show, the crowd of Khalid fans piled into the arena enthusiastically, the room suddenly went black, filling the crowd with anticipation for the entrance of the main man of the show. Khalid’s visuals began playing on the stage, amping the crowd up for his first appearance. He came out, starting off with the song soft song “Free Spirit”, which the audience sang in sync with him. He then commenced singing various album favorites, “Twenty One”, with dark, aesthetic visuals popping up across the screen and neon lights strobing across the arena.

He sang “Saved”, a song that a large portion of the crowd remembered from his first album, American Teen. The sound of this R&B classic hit the crowd with a feeling of nostalgia. Khalid jogged back and forth around the stage to hype up the crowd to the slightly-cheery pop song, “My Bad”, which provided different visuals of Khalid in grids with bright blue lights flashing in between.

Khalid threw it back to a time where his career first took off and shared several words of appreciation for his fans. He then started to sing the hit song “Location”, which a large portion of his fans hold dear to their hearts and sang loudly. On the floor, the crowd jumped in sync to the resounding beat of the song “Silence” (featuring Marshmello), with bright red lights making the arena resemble a music festival at night. Following “Silence” came “American Teen”, sung with power and pride for the city where Khalid comes from, El Paso, Texas. 

In the last thirty minutes, Khalid introduced the beginning of the end of the experience with the hit single “Talk”. Colorful neon lights flashed across the stage, accompanied by eye-catching dance routines, filling the crowd with energy and excitement. “Young, Dumb, & Broke” induced the crowd to dance, and “East Side” (featuring Halsey) radiated soul and joy. Khalid then incorporated a song that even non-fans may know from its frequent plays on the radio, “Love Lies” (featuring Normani). 

Ending the concert with the SunCity EP’s powerful ballad “Saturday Nights”, Khalid showed off his vocal range by singing high notes with soft guitar chords playing in the background. The dancers, along with the main act, came together on center-stage, bowed and waved goodbye. The thrilling performance served the crowd an experience filled with adrenaline and happiness. Khalid will surely fulfill these same expectations for future visits and tours to come.