Oliver Tree brought his Alone in a Crowd tour to the district on Wednesday night, stopping by The Anthem for his largest district-area show to date. Oliver Tree is a singer, songwriter, and producer from California. The musician has achieved popularity online throughout the course of his career but has risen to mainstream success since releasing his breakthrough single “Life Goes On” in 2021. In 2020, he grew to fame on Tiktok with his songs “Let Me Down” and “Hurt”, with thousands of users making videos to each. The Alone in a Crowd tour began in October and will run through next month.
There were two opening acts, Jasiah and FIDLAR. Rapper Jasiah played a short but sweet set. His music didn’t just show off his flow, he also displayed impressive vocals with an operatic-like bit during one song. Following his set, alt-rock LA band FIDLAR took the stage. Their set was upbeat and fun and had the crowd jumping along. Their set was reminiscent of the mid-2000s pop-punk era, and while the crowd might not have known every word, everyone was moving along to the music.
Oliver Tree didn’t take the stage until about 10pm, relatively late compared to other Anthem shows. His set was kicked off by a short performance from DJ group Supercomputer, who did a brief EDM set. Tree was wheeled onstage on a rolling couch, where he sat silently for a good 15 minutes before getting into the first song, “Miss You”. Video interludes preceded and succeeded each act of the show. One of these interludes described the show as a “concert, movie, TV show and Broadway play all in one”, which was a very fitting description. The video interludes were sketch-based comedy videos, each one starring Tree.
The show was split into three acts, one for each of Tree’s studio albums. Each act brought a costume change as well as new set pieces and themes. The “Cowboy Tears” act featured a western theme, with Oliver donning a cowboy getup while riding a life-sized statue of a cow. The show was uniquely bizarre, with Oliver often relying on crude jokes to engage with the audience.
The tour kicked off last year to promote Oliver Tree’s 2023 album. “Alone in a Crowd” is Tree’s third studio album, released under Atlantic records in September. Alone in a Crowd was less well-received compared to his previous albums, peaking at 18 on the US Alt charts. Tree hasn’t let this knock him down, however, with this tour delivering a very rich production. The tour will run through mid-February, with stops all across the United States.
Final Grade: B
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