The Everwise amphitheater was energetic as it hopped a ride on the Gravy Train Friday night with the performance of Yung Gravy in the heart of Downtown Indianapolis. Thanks to the folks at LiveNation, Ball State students were able to secure a discounted price for seated tickets and even a handful of tickets were given to the WCRD team to give away to some lucky students.
The show started with Yung Gravy’s DJ “TIIIIIIIIIIP” played some songs in his opening set before the opener, the crowd reaching peak excitement over “Hot to Go” and the throwing of Zebra Cakes into the pit.
After, the opener Carter Vail performed as the official opener of the tour. Carter Vail’s music, to me, was a stark contrast to what was to come from Yung Gravy. Carter Vail’s music was more of an indie rock sound with slight influences of modern rock-country and the rap sounds of Yung Gravy.
I personally really enjoyed the sound and vibes Carter Vail brought to the show and will likely be adding him to my personal playlist and radio show discography in the future- namely his songs performed that night, including “Harder to Kill” and “Always Thinking About You.”
After Carter Vail’s set, Gravy’s DJ returned to perform a handful of more songs and sharing his home-made powerpoint highlighting Indiana staples of questioning the pronunciation of Terre Haute and Pizza King.
Gravy opened his set high energy performing one of his more popular songs of TikTok acclaim “Oops!” before leading into his loosely older songs of “The Boys are Back in Town,” “1 Thot 2 Thot Red Thot Blue Thot”
Like a lot of artists who tend to land into fame at an exponential rate due to TikTok fame, Gravy’s music tends to be incredibly unique in sound and vibes, exploring new sounds, concepts and themes from album to album. This is most showcased in this tour, the “Grits and Gravy Tour.”
The first half of the show showcased the more “classic” Gravy songs and vibes- highlighting the retro-sounding rhythms and beats that were met with more pop-like and almost tongue-in-cheek lyrics. The visuals used 60s and 70s movies and show clips, playing into the classic “Milf lover” running joke that Gravy is known for on TikTok.
However, the middle portion of his show takes a slight turn, much like his music does with songs like “Shining on my ex,” “Welcome to Chili’s” and “You Need Jesus,” songs that feature artist bbno$.
This music era for Gravy plays much more into the “pimping” character or persona Gravy took on post-blowing up, with the stage visuals becoming more of the classic white boy rapping genre of bikini wearing women, lewd gestures, and questionable poses.
Admittedly, this vibe of music is not for me and I recognize that. And while I maybe didn’t enjoy this music as much as the older TikTok anthems Gravy performed, I can appreciate an audience that was invested and excited- and this show had that.
There were admittedly very few phones in sight, the audience stood and danced nonstop, they knew every word, and they were entirely locked in on the moment. So, even if I wasn’t enjoying the music at the moment, I was enjoying seeing others enjoying the moment- which is the beauty of a concert.
Gravy’s final era of music is his most recent album, where he has joined in on the trend of bending genres and exploring sounds by seeing where his music can fit in with the country sound. Performing songs from his most recent album like “My Garage,” “Clementine,” and “Tampa Bay Bustdown.”
This section of the show also came with a fair share of audience interactions, including Gravy encouraging the pit to spray water on eachother, handing out autographed pancakes being cooked on stage and talking about the tour overall.
The show concluded with some of the more popular and more TikTok-era songs Gravy has like “Gravy Train” “Betty” and closing the show out with “C’este La Vie,” which perfectly summed up the idea of the show- its unapologetically Yung Gravy, someone who is not going to mend himself or his sound to being what the mainstream or modern music landscape may want- but rather is going to continue to explore a sound that excites him and his fans.
Written By: Liv Ground
