Concert Review: Omar Apollo at the Aztec Theatre in San Antonio

By Karys Lay
Music Reviewer

Everyone has heard of the song Evergreen by the artist Omar Apollo by now. It’s a song that is trending all over social media. This song comes from Omar Apollo’s most recent album, “Ivory,” consisting of 14 songs. One of his songs features R&B artist Daniel Caesar and another song with bilingual singer Kali Uchis. Apollo is also a bilingual singer, producing songs with a mix of Spanish and English. I have been a fan of Omar Apollo for about 5 years now; one of the first songs I’ve heard when I found him was “Unbothered.” From then on, I listened to the rest of his music and became a fan of his.

His ongoing Prototype tour featured songs from not only his most recent album but also some songs from his past albums, “Apolonio,” “Stereo” and singles like “Frio.” The show that I had the opportunity to go to was held at the Aztec Theater in downtown San Antonio, a beautiful theater filled with Aztec statues and art. I have never been to a concert in San Antonio before, so this venue was new to me. I was surprised to see how small the general admission space was. If you were in the back, you could still easily see Apollo. I ended up in the back, and I was still closer to the stage than I have been at other venues where if you ended up in the back it felt too far from the stage. Apollo’s opener, Ravyn Lenae, stepped on stage radiating positive energy and getting the audience ready for Omar Apollo. With her soothing vocals and fluid movements on stage, Lenae’s timeless music and classic voice was stunning to stay the least.

Moving onto the main part of the night, Omar Apollo came onto the stage and owned the room. The crowd’s excitement filled the theater as they waited for what felt too long to finally see Omar Apollo live. Apollo made sure to be captivating while performing, connecting with his band on stage and his audience. Taking advantage of the stage; using the fullness of it to interact with the fans. The song that he performed that I personally loved the most was “Invincible.” It is my favorite song on the “Ivory” album. Everyone in the theater knew the song word for word by heart and it made my night even better.

By far, Omar Apollo is the best artist I have seen in terms of interacting with and welcoming his fans. Not only did he just acknowledge the fans that were on the floor in front of him, but also the ones sitting above. Despite the grand size of the packed venue, it felt like he was talking to every single person in the theater who came to see him, connecting with individuals and thanking them for all the support he had received. Omar Apollo was a joy to see live and hearing him in person is a whole other experience completely different from listening to him on the phone. His passionate songs and voice were displayed throughout the night and had everyone in that theater in awe.