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    Kendrick Lamar and SZA Bring Storms and Celebrations to the Stadium Stage

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    The rapper and R&B star are taking victory laps for smash hits and albums. But their co-headlining tour is still threaded with angst and reflection.A little over a year ago, Kendrick Lamar had a comfortable perch as one of hip-hop’s most popular performers, and also the most pious. Then came his monthslong quarrel with Drake, which turned into a referendum on ethics in hip-hop (and life). That led to the emergence of Lamar as a maker of tsk-tsking anthems, which turned into his leanest and meanest album to date. Then came a valedictory performance at one of the biggest stages in the world: the Super Bowl halftime show in February.The outlier song on that album, “GNX,” is the SZA duet “Luther,” which has reigned atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks. It’s both sweet and dour, a love song that somehow romanticizes the obstacles that get in the way as much as the affection itself.Despite the success of “Luther,” Lamar and SZA aren’t necessarily natural duet partners; they’re two complementary but not overlapping styles of sentimentalist. Lamar treats remembrance as if it’s a moral act, and SZA expresses a kind of agitation about looking backward. They’ve shared a record label and collaborated several times over the past decade — some good songs, some great ones, all of them in slight tug of war with themselves.That added a layer of complexity to their current outing, the Grand National Tour, which came to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Thursday night for the first of two performances. Even if the overall song count tilted a bit in Lamar’s favor, it was in essence a co-headlining event: Lamar, his popularity at its peak, touring stadiums for the first time, while SZA takes a victory lap for “S.O.S.,” her beloved 2022 album.Lamar’s set list right-sized the role of the Drake beef in his career arc — important and perspective shifting, but not dominant.Graham Dickie/The New York TimesFor almost three hours, Lamar and SZA traded control of the stage, a few songs at a time, a conceit that gave the performance quickness and unpredictability. Sometimes they’d hand off the spotlight with a tender duet, little dollops of warmth amid the high-energy, boldly produced presentation. (Others have taken this trade-off approach before: Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Rolling Stones Live Review: Sounding Great and Defying Time

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      During a 19-song set at MetLife Stadium that spanned 60 years, the band tapped into what seems like a bottomless well of rock ’n’ roll energy.“This song’s for Manhattan!” Mick Jagger told the crowd on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, before launching into a punchy rendition of “Shattered,” that agitated ode to late-70s New York City that closes out the band’s 1978 album “Some Girls.” In the ensuing 46 years, the city has changed in some superficial ways but somehow remained essentially the same — much, as they showed throughout an impressively energetic two-hour set, like the Rolling Stones.The Stones’ first New York-area stadium gig in five years was sponsored, without a hint of irony, by AARP. It was appropriate: At times what transpired onstage felt not just like a rock concert but a display of the evolutionary marvel that is aging in the 21st century. (Albeit aging while wealthy, with every possible technological and medical advantage at one’s disposal. I’ll have whatever vitamins the Stones are taking, please.)Ronnie Wood, the core group’s baby at age 76, still shreds on the guitar with a grinning, impish verve. Eighty-year-old and eternally cool Keith Richards pairs his bluesy licks with a humble demeanor that seems to say “I can’t believe I’m still here, either.” And then there is Jagger, who turns 81 a few days after the Hackney Diamonds Tour wraps in July. Six decades into his performing career, he is somehow still the indefatigable dynamo he always was, slithering vertically like a charmed snake, chopping the air as if he’s in a kung fu battle against a swarm of unseen mosquitoes, and, when he needs both hands to dance, which is often, nestling the microphone provocatively above the fly of his pants. Sprinting the length of the stage during a rousing “Honky Tonk Women” — the 13th song in the set! — he conjured no other rock star so much as Benjamin Button, as he seemed to become even more energetic as the night went on.Jagger, right, was more Benjamin Button than rock singer, our critic writes — somehow becoming even more energetic as the night went on.Thea Traff for The New York TimesLast year’s “Hackney Diamonds” — the Stones’ first album of new material in nearly two decades — was the nominal reason for the tour, but they didn’t linger on it, and the crowd didn’t seem to mind. Across 19 songs, they played only three tunes from the latest release, including two of the best: The taut, growly lead single “Angry” and, for the first part of the encore, the gospel-influenced reverie “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” Mostly it was a kind of truncated greatest hits collection, capturing the band’s long transformation from reverent students of the blues (Richards’ star turn on the tender “You Got the Silver”) to countercultural soothsayers (a singalong-friendly “Sympathy for the Devil”) to corporate rock behemoth (they opened, of course, with “Start Me Up”).Jagger, Richards and Wood all still emanate a palpable joy for what they are doing onstage. But those joys also feel noticeably personal and siloed, rarely blending to provide much intra-band chemistry. That is likely a preservation strategy — the surest way to keep a well-oiled machine running and to continue sharing the stage with the same people for half a century or more. But when Jagger ended a charming story about a local diner that had named a sandwich after him (“I’ve never had a [expletive] sandwich named after me! I’m very, very proud”), I did not quite buy his assertion that he, Keith and Ronnie were going to go enjoy one together after the show.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Touches Down in New Jersey

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      The pop megastar’s first of three shows at MetLife Stadium featured an appearance from the rising rapper Ice Spice, a fan-favorite song and loads of sequins.On Friday afternoon, a seemingly endless parade of Taylor Swift fans wearing flowery dresses, sparkly cowboy boots, sequined T-shirts and handmade friendship bracelets made their way to East Rutherford, N.J., turning the vast asphalt parking lot at MetLife Stadium into a pop-up performance space, a fashion runway and a meeting ground for friends, old and new.Two months and 25 shows after the pop megastar’s career-spanning Eras Tour began, the show arrived in the New York area for three weekend dates — her first concerts near (but not quite in) her adopted hometown in five years.“I really, really missed you!” Swift told the sold-out crowd of more than 72,000 people.And they had missed her.Fans in the parking lot of the stadium came with balloons.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesFans dressed up as Swift in different eras, wearing colorful and sparkly outfits.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesMelanie Murrat, an enterprising Swift devotee, entertained those gathered in the parking lot.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesOne young woman announced that she was crying tears of joy as she strode down a tunnel leading to the parking lot. Two fans with tickets to Saturday’s concert who had traveled from Costa Rica came hoping to see Swift on Friday as well. A woman in an “I ❤️ T.S.” shirt refused an interview request, admitting that she teaches at a public school and was not supposed to be at the stadium on a Friday afternoon.Even getting into the parking lot required dedication — and a potentially pricey ticket.Six months after ‌a Ticketmaster presale filled with snags, a single seat at the show on Friday was available on the secondary market for no less than $1,000. The astronomical costs led Swift’s loyal fans, known as Swifties, to band together to help each other find tickets at fair prices.Charlie Tokieda, 39, of Brooklyn, got face-value tickets to Friday’s show by waiting online during the presale, and he bought another pair of tickets on the secondary market to a show in Denver to celebrate his birthday in July.“We did get a great deal, and that great deal could have bought a pretty nice used car,” he said.On Friday afternoon, security guards in orange shirts stood near the gates that formed a perimeter around the parking lot and demanded to see proof of admission before stepping aside. It was part of an effort to crack down on “Taylor-gating,” — hanging out in the lot and listening to the concert without a ticket — which MetLife Stadium said would not be allowed.While the mood outside the stadium was celebratory, a host of ticketless fans camped out, hoping for a chance to see the show.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesMaria Naeem, 32, who arrived via Uber around 9:30 a.m. and slipped into the parking lot unnoticed, was among the smattering of fans and chaperones who remained outside as Swift was preparing to go onstage. Naeem, a doctor, had asked two colleagues to cover her shift and driven from Virginia in hopes of buying a ticket at will call.“They’re not selling, and everything online is very expensive,” she said, disappointed.Many of Swift’s most dedicated followers dressed in D.I.Y. costumes, resembling the singer during different moments of her career. One fan draped herself in a pink-and-white “Taylor Swift 2024” flag. Others sported skirts that featured snakes, a reference to Swift’s 2017 album, “Reputation.”Robert Pszybylski, 19, of Long Island, wore a flowery shirt inspired by Swift’s 2021 Grammys dress, more or less custom-made for the concert.Though Swift didn’t take the stage until close to 8 p.m., the scene in the parking lot was bustling most of the afternoon.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesFans made and traded friendship bracelets.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesSwifties admired their newly procured merchandise.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times“I kept Googling ‘3-D embroidered floral fabric,’” he said. “I ordered off Etsy from China. It took a month to get here.”Even those who were not fortunate enough get tickets found other ways to take part in Taylor Mania.For months, fans with and without tickets have been obsessed with procuring concert merchandise, sometimes camping out overnight to get first dibs on the most coveted items. Perhaps in anticipation of a mad rush to vendors, MetLife Stadium’s flagship store began dispensing merch a full day early.But those efforts did little to shorten the lines on Friday, when, in addition to a prized blue crew neck sweatshirt, fans were hoping to take home a new special edition “Midnights” CD (yes, a CD!) that included a remix of the ‌song “Karma,” featuring the up-and-coming Bronx rapper Ice Spice.Fans in the parking lot enthusiastically sang along as though they were inside the show.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesNear the end of the show, Swift premiered the remix’s video starring Ice Spice, announcing that while in the studio, she “not only fell in love with her, but just decided she’s the entire future.” The rapper later joined Swift onstage to debut the remix and close the show. Cue a fresh round of frenzied screaming.Though she has played about 40 of the same tracks during each three-hour-plus set, Swift has also unveiled a handful of “surprise songs” to keep delighted fans on their toes.On Friday, she invited her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff to perform “Getaway Car,” a fan favorite from “Reputation,” then took a seat at a piano for “Maroon” from “Midnights,” the most recent of the four albums she has released since her last tour.The LP, she said, was about “nights throughout my life,” “things that kept me up” and “memories you keep going back to.”“Maroon,” she said, was about a memory from — you guessed it:And I lost youThe one I was dancin’ withIn New York, no shoesLooked up at the sky and it was maroonFans who had spent the show in the parking lot at the end of a long night.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times More