Omar Apollo showcases serious pop aspirations at Palace Theatre
by James Schaak and Jessica Fredette
November 10, 2022
Omar Apollo made his case as a voice of pop’s future at Palace Theatre Tuesday with a set showing off his latest album.
The 25-year-old alternative R&B singer-songwriter from Hobart, Ind., has enjoyed the kind of year amateur musicians across the Midwest can only dream of. After years of uploading music onto the internet, his long-awaited debut studio LP, Ivory, has hit big. The album earned a No. 1 spot on the U.S. Heatseekers Album chart, a 79 on Metacritic, and a headlining spot in the 2,500-capacity Palace Theatre.
Opener Ravyn Lenae, an up-and-coming alt-R&B star from Chicago, also had a marquee year. Featuring collaborations with KAYTRANADA and Steve Lacy, her debut studio LP, HYPNOS, caught the music world’s attention. It earned a Best New Music accolade from Pitchfork, and she has snagged deserved cosigns from breakout stars SZA and Noname.
Sure enough, Lenae’s performance almost threatened to upstage Apollo. Prancing onto the stage in knee-high black boots and a bright-pink dress, Lenae’s outfit laid down a vibrant tone for the night. Her three-piece backup band -- consisting of an electric guitarist, a drummer, and a keyboardist – at times exceeded the sound found on HYPNOS.
Much like her clearest inspiration, Aaliyah, Lenae’s vocals went toe-to-toe with the ambitious instrumentals that band put forth, usually with a high success rate. Exemplary restraint, quirky high notes and well-placed giggles helped the singer work her way through the kind of outstanding opening performance that audiences rarely receive.
The live band and oddball vocals warrant comparisons to another R&B great, Erykah Badu. Much like Badu, Lenae’s lyrics flex a poise beyond her years and her onstage presence expressed an enviably leveled graciousness.
“St Paul, you’ve been beautiful tonight. You’ve been open, you’ve been warm,” Lenae thanked the crowd at one point.
After rehashing what made HYPNOS such an achievement, Lenae closed out with “Sticky,” the 2018 single that made her name. After skipping offstage, her band stayed on for a minute for an uproarious finale, full of head-banging.
After a break filled with Nicki Minaj on the speakers, smoke machines in full effect, and security guards distributing water bottles, Apollo arrived onstage.
With one drummer in shades, two guitarists, and gigantic LED lighting panels that often displayed his live image, Apollo sang, strutted, and smirked across the stage like he owned it. Well, in those moments, he totally did.
Apollo danced with heaping amounts of boyish charm, reminiscent of a teenage Usher. At times he grabbed his belt and moved his hips to the beat, his tongue ever so slightly out, infusing the smooth ’90s R&B-inspired moves with a Latin influence.
In multiple interviews, Apollo has referenced Prince as an influence and so, inevitably, he addressed that elephant in the room.
“We’re in Minneapolis,” Apollo stated, before correcting himself, “No we’re in St. Paul, which is close to Minneapolis.”
“Prince is from here,” he said with a smile, in an effort to prove he actually did know a thing or two about his audience’s home that night.
At other times, Apollo leaned away from the funk influences and into traditional Mexican rock.
“Is there a lot of Mexicans in St. Paul?” Apollo asked about six songs into the show before grabbing an acoustic guitar and diving into a trio of Spanish-language songs. Born to immigrant parents from Guadalajara, Apollo seems intent on re-introducing his non-Mexican fans to their southern neighbors while engaging those who already get it. Two fans in the balcony waved a Mexican flag while Apollo teased the audience members who didn’t know his Spanish lyrics.
In addition to his Mexican identity, Apollo also imbues his performances with his queer identity. Ivory’s cover, featuring Apollo shirtless and solemn in the shadows, closely resembles the artwork for Set My Heart On Fire Immediately by indie rock queer icon Perfume Genius. Like Perfume Genius, Apollo also sings lyrics full of queer heartbreak and envy. Comedian Jaboukie Young-White frequently jokes that yearning is the gayest emotion. It’s telling that both artists have ballads on White’s popular Spotify playlist titled, “gay yearning.”
Apollo balanced his more upbeat moments with these tales of queer heartbreak on Tuesday night. One particularly vulnerable moment arrived during his performance of “Mr. Neighbor.” In the song, Apollo pleaded to the crowd, “I, I, I, I don't want to be alone,” before finishing it out with a primal, “F**k me, oh yeah, yeah-yeah / Oh yeah, yeah-yeah.”
No entry in Apollo’s discography sears quite like “Evergreen,” his last song performed on Tuesday night. Every line in “Evergreen” devastates, as Apollo describes his hopeless boy crush like an addiction, questioning whether something’s wrong with his body and his urges. In the song’s second verse, a wounded Apollo reached his Tuesday night performance’s climax, belting out, “She could never love you more, more than me!”
The current landscape of alternative R&B and Latin pop exists in the shadow of Frank Ocean and Bad Bunny respectively. Both artists have redesigned what a male pop star looks like.
With Latin influences, vulnerable queer songwriting, and an admirable stage presence, Apollo seems to fit that image better than most. With catchier lyrics and a more distinctive style, Apollo could easily launch himself into crossover pop success.
If the talent on display at Apollo’s show on Tuesday night is any indicator, that’d be a bright future for us all.
