Post Malone has crowd swooning
People crying as his set ended. The packed PPG Paints Arena crowd singing along with every lyric.
Post Malone should feel like a rock star because he captivated the crowd like an icon during the Pittsburgh stop of his Twelve Carat Tour.
The crowd — which had its teen contingent, but also many above Malone’s own age of 27 — was amped and ready to receive Malone and his stadium pop-rock hits.
Malone’s effort, given that he broke his ribs from a fall on stage just over a week ago, was stilted but enthusiastic and full of heart. The fans returned the love.
Dressed in a throwback Penguins jersey with the number 22 and the first half of his stage name, “Post,” on the back, as well as cutoff black jeans, white socks and white shoes, Malone did his best to deliver a physical performance alongside his songs.
Those songs — really, all of them — are pop-opera, tinged with rock and a dash of dance. Though Malone couldn’t range about as freely as he liked, opting to walk from spot to spot on stage, he still managed to bring the crowd to rapturous cheers using Michael Jackson-like hip thrusts and arm extensions with flair. He periodically grabbed his crotch and popped his pelvis like Mike, while other times licking his fingers and straightening his eyebrows or passionately rubbing his head.
He was like a slow Freddie Mercury but with tattoos all over the place.
Though he moved like a battered quarterback whose very presence means more to the fans than a healthy backup, the PPG crowd was more than satisfied to see him labor about as long as they got their Posty.
When Malone bellowed out emphatic lyrics to a track, he stopped moving at all and concentrated on his singing.
“This mic has autotune. It’s like a cheat code,” he said to a fan he brought on stage.
There was heavy crowd participation for every song. So much so, for one track, Post brought up a pair of fans, brothers, from the pit. One played guitar and the other sang “Stay” as if they had rehearsed it.