Concert review: Post-weather delay, Post Malone rained swears and thank-yous onto his fans

About 20 minutes before the presumed start time of Post Malone’s sold-out concert at PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte on Saturday night, an announcement was made that the show was being delayed due to a storm entering the area.

And before the voice on the P.A. even got through his first sentence, it started raining — a long, hard shower, of very loud BOOOOOOs.

In the run-up to that, the messaging had been slightly confusing. Not 2-1/2 hours earlier, the venue was encouraging fans to hustle up so the show could get started 45 minutes earlier than planned, and Beach Fossils did indeed get on stage at 7:15 instead of 8. But after Post’s opener wrapped at 7:45, those directly involved with making a call about the weather didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to do anything but wait.

So when things were officially put on hold, fans were maybe a little frustrated, maybe a little disappointed. They were not, however, deterred. In fact, despite the venue’s instructions for the more than 10,000 people on the uncovered lawn to take shelter in their vehicles, it appeared as though the majority weren’t willing to give up the spots they’d staked out, with thousands refusing to budge even in the face of the flashes of lightning or the brief downpour.

Finally, at 9:49 p.m. — after a delay that set the show back nearly 50 minutes — Post Malone casually strolled onto the stage holding a red Solo cup high in the air with his left hand, then upon hitting his mark in the middle made a fist around the microphone in his right and enthusiastically pumped it in the air 15 times.

The lightning was gone. But the thunder of the crowd was deafening.

“Thank you guys for being so f------ patient tonight, ladies and gentlemen,” Post Malone told his fans right after ripping through the 1-2 opening punch of two of his biggest hits, “Better Now” and “Wow.” “We had some inclement weather, but who’s ready to get a little bit f------ wet and wild tonight, ladies and gentlemen? ... Despite the weather issues I hope everybody’s having a great f------ night, and I appreciate y’all very much. That being said, let’s f------ shred.”

This particular hello from this particular headliner set the tone for an evening that overflowed with gratitude, with f-bombs and with, yes, shredding.

Five years ago, a then-22-year-old Post Malone showed up to this same venue as an artist on the brink — a virtual overnight success via viral mix tapes who could sell tickets and was entertaining enough to watch on stage, but who had gotten hot so fast he barely had enough songs to fill a setlist.

On Saturday night, his first time here since, he put on a show that outdid 2018’s in almost every possible way.

Thanks to a continued upward trajectory and another three studio albums to his credit since then (including his fifth, “Austin,” which just dropped on Friday), he served up a playlist in Charlotte that included a staggering 19 hit singles from a career in the mainstream that is less than seven years old.

The man also known as Austin Richard Post did it with a manic energy that he matched to whatever genre he was tackling at the moment.

During more rap-oriented tracks like “Psycho” and “rockstar,” he’d move around more like a rapper, hopping up and down, slinking across the stage, often lowering himself into a crab-like crouch — knees level to his ears — while unleashing a menacing hook. During sunnier, more pop-themed songs, he channeled his inner pop star, strutting like a peacock to the uptempo beat of “Circles” like a peacock, or joyfully grinding his hips and waving his arms to the more chilled-out groove of “Sunflower.”

And when he got hold of an acoustic guitar and parked in front of a mic stand, he did heartfelt very well, fully arresting the crowd just by hitting an aching falsetto note in singer-songwriter-y fare like new song “Overdrive” or old song “Feeling Whitney.”

But whereas last time here he spent his entire show on stage by himself backed only by piped-in music and teeth-rattling bass, this time he was joined by a full complement of musicians — two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a woman on keys and synth, and most notably, a mini-orchestra of four more women, one on cello and the rest on violins.

Whereas his 2018 concert felt like a hip-hop show in search of an identity, this one felt much more evolved musically, much more grown-up in its staging.

The live musicians improved the experience of seeing and hearing him perform exponentially, and helped set the table for this: Post Malone, smoking a cigarette; strumming an acoustic guitar with a shoulder strap that said “Stinky” on it; wearing nothing more than a pair of cut-off jorts and white sneakers with half-length tube socks, so that from far away he just looked like one big jumble of tattoos; crooning a song about drug addiction ... next to a quartet of classical musicians dressed like they’d fit right in with the Charlotte Symphony.

It was one of the most absurdly entertaining juxtapositions you’re likely to see at PNC this summer.

Speaking of absurdities, it has to be noted that Post Malone — who turned 28 just a few weeks ago and became a father last year — resorted to using the f-word so often that I heard multiple fans making jokes about it. In total on Saturday, not including song lyrics, Posty uttered some variation of it a “Glengarry Glen Ross”-esque 112 times.

And 11 of those instances were incorporated into what would become the night’s catchphrase: “Thank you so very f------ much.”

In fact, the t-word (“thank you”) was the only word he came anywhere close to uttering as often as the f-.

Perhaps the most poignant of those expressions of appreciation, by the way, came right before the last song of his main set, the anthemic trap hit “Congratulations.” “It’s been a really strange and difficult last couple of f------ years,” the singer said, referring to his well-publicized battles with anxiety and depression. “... But the love that y’all have shown me, and the support that y’all have shown me over these last years, has really f------, like, saved my f------ life. So thank you guys so very f------ much.”

It built on a sentiment he’d expressed just two songs earlier, when mentioning how grateful he was to have been alive to celebrate his recent birthday.

In introducing “Too Young,” Post talked about writing the lyrics to the early mix-tape song (I don’t wanna die too young / Yeah, too young, yeah, too young) as a teenager and alluded to the infamous “27 Club” — which, eerily, includes a collection of celebrities who died at age 27. Jimi Hendrix. Jim Morrison. Kurt Cobain. Amy Winehouse. Janis Joplin.

“There’s this whole thing about 27 — you know, 27, f------ all that bull----,” he said.

“But for the longest time I tried to stay safe and not leave my house, or have any pianos or anvils drop on me, or anything like that. But now we f------ made it. We’re 28! We can do whatever the f--- we want!”

On this night, in Charlotte, what he seemed to want most was to please his fans.

That’s why he made a point to briefly wear every hat that was tossed onstage to him from fans. Why he chucked his sweat towels and his guitar picks and his not-quite-empty red Solo cups of beer into a pit full of folks hungry for souvenirs. Why — when during “Too Young” he slipped on a wet spot on the edge of the stage and had to use his free hand to break his fall — he didn’t miss a note, or even show any sign of being fazed in the slightest.

Why he played half an hour past curfew at the risk of noise-ordinance fines.

And finally, why he jumped down into the pit after finishing show-closer “Chemical” to sign autographs and shake hands and distribute hugs even though the clock was moving past 11:30, toward midnight.

Maybe a few people, perhaps those sensitive to swearing, left the show disappointed by that, or something else. I have no idea.

I think most, though, if given the opportunity, would have been happy to parrot Post’s catchphrase right back at him.

Post Malone’s setlist

1. “Better Now”

2. “Wow.”

3. “Zack and Codeine”

4. “Psycho”

5. “Goodbyes”

6. “Hollywood Dreams/Come Down”

7. “Mourning”

8. “I Like You (A Happier Song)“

9. “Jonestown (Interlude)“

10. “Take What You Want”

11. “Over Now”

12. “rockstar”

13. “Feeling Whitney”

14. “Overdrive”

15. “I Fall Apart”

16. “Wrapped Around Your Finger”

17. “Circles”

18. “Enough Is Enough”

19. “Too Young”

20. “White Iverson”

21. “Congratulations”

Encore:

22. “Sunflower”

23. “Chemical”