Review: Kendrick Lamar brings Big Steppers tour to the Wells Fargo Center

Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, plays out like one long self-interrogation, a two-volume look inward at the burdens he carries.

That struggle came to South Philadelphia Tuesday night, when the Compton, Calif., rapper brought his Big Steppers tour to a packed Wells Fargo Center with openers Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, both of whom are signed to his pgLang label.

The Pulitzer prize winning rapper’s stunningly stylized headlining set was structured like a 1-hour, 45-minute therapy session, a 28-song self-examination complete with the voice of a British doctor — was that Helen Mirren? — urging her patient to do the necessary work on himself.

He was working, alright. When he last played the Wells Fargo on tour for 2017′s acclaimed Damn., Lamar maintained a minimalist aesthetic, eschewing spectacle as if to prove a lone performer could command the attention of an arena-sized space with the force of his intense focus.

Lamar hasn’t compromised his art one iota, but with The Big Steppers he’s added a flair for visual presentation, creating a theatrical tableau that magnified the internal conflicts playing out in his songs and in his head.

“I hope you find peace in this lifetime,” another disembodied woman’s voice intoned at the start of “United in Grief,” the set-opening song.

“I’ve been going through something,” Lamar’s voice was heard to say, as he appeared for the first time, rapping while seated at a piano. A ventriloquist’s dummy looked down at him, a mini-me Kendrick in matching dark suit and one glittering Michael Jackson-style glove, keeping a creepy eye on him.

The set design was wide open and spacious, all right angles with a square stage flanked by rectangular video screens that turned into a giant cube when curtains were draped from near the ceiling to the floor.

Lamar spent most of the night alone on stage, though he was sometimes accompanied by female and male dancers who joined him in marching formation.

He moved with theatrical flair from the main stage to another platform in the middle of the arena, and later yet another one at the far end. He was often dramatically lit from below, his giant silhouette appearing on the curtained cube behind him.

The play of light and shadow illuminated the murky world of doubt, self-recrimination, mourning, and healing in Mr. Morale songs like “Rich Spirit,” “Father Time,” and “Purple Hearts.”

And it was a sight to behold when the 35-year-old Lamar, who rapped with trademark precision all night, pulled out past hits like “Backseat Freestyle” from 2012′s Good Kid, m.a.a.d. City, and “King Kunta” from 2015′s To Pimp A Butterfly.

The general admission crowd on the arena floor exploded with energy, bouncing about with phones held high, capturing every second for posterity.

Probably the most impressive detonation of the evening came after the therapist’s voice issued a warning: “Mr. Lamar, once again you’ve let your ego get the best of you. Must I remind you how this went before?”

That was followed by “Humble” from Damn. in a thundering, reworked, bass-heavy version that shook the room. Lamar addressed himself: “Be humble,” he rapped, “Bitch, sit down.”

The dynamic opening wasn’t quite sustained throughout the set. The staging grew less eye-popping, and the choreography settled into more predictable arena spectacle modes.

There were also momentum issues. A late peak of the show came with “Alright,” the To Pimp declaration of resilience that became a Black Lives Matter anthem, particularly after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The staging was a bit odd. The therapist’s voice announced, “Time for a COVID test,” and Lamar performed inside a clear plastic cube, surrounded by four people in hazmat suits.

Maybe it was meant to be a reassurance that we would be alright coming out of pandemic isolation. Or perhaps it was this: We’re all stuck in isolation with ourselves, and unless we undertake the self-examination that’s at the core of Mr. Morale, we in fact will not be alright.

In any case, it didn’t really matter, because even though Lamar was rapping behind a transparent wall, the crowd went wild. The song was without question the high energy peak of the latter part of the show. The trouble was that there were seven more to follow, which struggled to match that level of excitement.

Lamar closed the show with Mr. Morale’s “Savior” in which he stressed to the crowd that, with all his imperfections, that’s exactly what he is not. Another voice-over shared wisdom familiar to Spider-Man fans: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

But before that, there was one last blast of fun, courtesy of Baby Keem. The 21-year- old rapper born Hykeem Carter Jr., who is Lamar’s cousin, seemed not quite ready for the big stage when he played the Made in America festival last year.

On Tuesday, after an opening set by Leone to which the young crowd politely paid attention, Keem was welcomed by passionate chants of his name. He was impressively composed, and fans were primed for every track from last year’s The Melodic Blue. And then, toward the end of Lamar’s set, Keem joined his cousin for “Family Ties,” their 2021 duet.

The room lit up as the two faced each other from opposite ends of the arena. Keem thanked his cousin, calling him by a family nickname: “I’m grateful to Man-Man for opening the doors.” And Lamar loosened up and boasted: “I’m not a trending topic, I’m a prophet .. looking for a better me.” With the Mr. Morale album and The Big Steppers tour, that search continues.

Here’s the set list to Lamar’s 1 hour 45 performance, which included 28 songs, though a few of them were snippets.