Donald Glover is said goodbye to his nickname Childish Gambino on the way – and revived his earliest hits on the tour. The musician started his New World Tour in Oklahoma City on Sunday, where he played songs from his new album Bando Stone & the New World and included songs in his setlist that he hadn’t played in nearly a decade.
Gambino played almost the entire Bando Stoneand opened his set with “H3@RT$ W3RE M3@NT T0 F7¥”, “Got to Be” and “In the Night”. (He played the Bando songs for the first time during a show in New York before the album’s release last month.)
At the Paycom Center on Sunday he played “To Be Hunted” from this year’s Atavista and “Witchy” by Kaytranada Timeless for the first time ever.
Gambino dedicated the last part of his performance to performing a number of tracks from his 2011 debut album Warehouse which he hadn’t played live since 2015.
After playing “Sober” from his 2014 EP KauaiGambino surprised the audience with the tracks “LES,” “Heartbeat,” and shortened versions of fan favorites “Bonfire” and “Freaks and Geeks.”
Fans shared videos of the performance, which showed Gambino playing songs from different parts of the arena and performing a futuristic light show. The musician had previously hinted at a live spectacle, telling Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 that the LP was “made for arena rock” and intended for live performance.
“If this live show isn’t the best live show you’ve ever seen by the first song, you’ll get your money back,” Glover said. “When you hear all these songs, you’ll know them. I’ll add all these new songs. I’ll add all this new technology, but the live event is what makes it worthwhile for me.”
Of course, some of Gambino’s biggest hits were also on the setlist. He played songs such as “Feels Like Summer,” “Me and Your Mama,” and “This Is America.” The musician also ended his set with “Redbone” before playing “Lithonia” as an encore.
The musician will kick off his New World Tour in Kansas City on Monday before stopping in cities such as Boston, New York City, Tampa, Los Angeles and Chicago through early October. Amaarae and Willow will support the singer on his tour.
