Kendrick Lamar, SZA at MetLife Stadium with My Son: A Review

Watching my 12-year-old son’s face light up as Kendrick Lamar launched into “Squabble Up” at his two-hour concert with SZA made every grueling second of the 3-hour trek to MetLife Stadium worth it. 

The  May 8 event, one of two nights for the Kendrick Lamar and SZA Grand National Tour pit stop at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., was my oldest preteen Nathan’s first stadium concert. And while it was a grueling effort to travel to and from our Fairfield, Conn., home, the night didn’t disappoint.

The two-plus hour show merged both artists’ songs, breaking them into “Acts” punctuated with short videos of each artist being interviewed. Lamar and SZA performed a few songs individually at a time in each act, trading off throughout the night. Lamar’s hard-hitting classics like “Humble” struck a chord early on with concertgoers, who couldn’t help but whip out their phones to make sure they captured every possible moment of the experience. The stage frequently exploded in fire throughout Lamar’s micro sets, with flashes of lightning and sound effects creating a darker backdrop as he and his squad of dancers pranced the stages.

Lamar’s sets did a good job of balancing the 2010s legacy hits that earned him poetic credentials with his newer, and often more antagonistic, material. My son and I agreed that his performance of the 2024 single “Euphoria” was one of the most riveting moments of the night, besides the big 2024 diss track (we’ll get to that in a minute). 

SZA’s mini sets, meanwhile, were a study of lush greenery and the sensuality of nature, complete with a gigantic ant, which she straddled and rode at various points, visuals of insects frolicking, and imagery that could have worked in an Avatar movie. She even donned fairy wings in the latter half for a couple of songs. It was a fitting visual component for an artist who doesn’t conform to any particular genre, incorporating elements of pop, R&B, and rock in her music. One of my favorite moments was when two guitar players took the stage to accompany her breathtaking vocals with searing electric rock solos.

The SZA audience favorites, judging by noise levels — including the shrieks of the teenage girls sitting behind us in the Section 225 — were clearly “Kill Bill” and “BMF” when she wasn’t coming together with Lamar for a duet.

And of course, best duet of all was Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” in the encore, but by that time, my son and I were racing down the ramps toward the car. 

Mercifully, the most epic moment of the night hit right before that encore, when Lamar launched into his notorious and infectious “Not Like Us.” Seeing my son singing along to every word, bopping his head, made me so utterly grateful for every moment that brought me to this one: I wouldn’t have been at this concert if not for Nathan’s love of Lamar’s music, and his insisting we play “Not Like Us” on repeat before most every baseball game last summer. It was a moment — and a night — I will never forget. 

Marisa Torrieri Bloom is the editor and founder of Rockmommy.