House Of Vans Presents: Anderson .Paak

Words by Hillary Hedstrom | Photos by Bobby Talamine

When the Anderson .Paak RSVP went live, it almost immediately sold out. Everyone wanted to see the Grammy Award-winning artist. 

Showday the line outside the House of Vans wrapped around the building. Excited fans had been waiting for hours to get inside, ready for a jazzy night of rhythm, blues, and rap.

Sipping on free Goose Island or Canned Water, guests wandered around, enjoying the art by Dewey Saunders, who created the art for Paak’s “Malibu.” The art was made using mostly black, white, and yellow, save for one giant picture of Anderson .Paak that hung by the bar. The giant Anderson .Paak picture was black and white, with pops of bright color.

In addition to the art, guests could experience skateboarding down Santa Monica Pier via a VR headset, YouTube, and skateboards attached to the ground. 

The art included a photo corner. Foliage covered walls held up a bright green sign that read “Yes Lawd!” in script. There sat a drum set, covered in stickers and leaves.

While people were still filtering in, Kadhja Bonet started. Her 1950s-esque soul vocals overpowered the chattering crowd. Her entire set was jazzy and full of soul, with classical elements.

As Bonet left the stage, the crowd started pushing forward. The Free Nationals, Anderson .Paak’s band, was up next. 

Paak joined the Free Nationals onstage briefly, leading to lots of cheers. He wasn’t performing with their set, but was up there to announce them.

“This is my first time seeing them live without performing with them,” he announced.

The Free Nationals’ jazz set was very music heavy, light on the vocals. The members encouraged the crowd to start a pit. They started the dance party and were a preview of what was yet to come.

The crowd was very friendly, chatting with each other, dancing to the pre-show setlist. People were sharing their water so nobody had to lose their spot. Strangers were dancing with each other. 

The security guards started to flash their lights at each other, leading the crowd to speculate what was going on. People were guessing that someone had thrown up, or passed out.

The smooth sound of Maurice Brown’s Intro on a trumpet came from the crowd, where the security guards flashed their lights. The trumpet player made his way to the stage and took his place. That was the Free Nationals’ cue to take the stage again, this time joined by Anderson .Paak.

Anderson .Paak claims to have the best teef in the game, according to his late spring/early summer 2019 tour title. It’s confirmed: he does. Up on stage behind his drum set, his teeth looked great.

Everyone started dancing as soon as the first song, “Heart Don’t Stand,” started. The dancing lasted through his entire 20 song set. From the very beginning to the very end, the energy was at a very high level.

Although he spent most of the set behind his drums, he got up a few times to showcase his dancing. He danced his heart out while he belted out “Come Down.”

He also came into the audience and walked around while performing. From the VIP lounge to the bar, he went everywhere. A quick shirt change later, he was back on stage.

The entire set, the dancing was edging on forming a pit. But during the song “Bubblin” one started. Everyone went wild, dancing as hard as they can.

His final song was a tribute to Mac Miller. They made the song “Dang!” together, which was on Miller’s album The Divine Feminine. Anderson .Paak announced that he could feel Mac’s presence and that he was in the air.

Set list:
          Maurice Brown Intro

1. Heart Don’t Stand
   
2. Saviers Road
   
3. Come Down
   
4. Tints
   
5. King James
   
6. 6 Summers
   
7. Glowed Up
   
8. Smile
   
9. Reachin Too Much
   
10. Ron Solo
    
11. Make It Better
    
12. Put Me Thru
    
13. The Waters
    
14. Jet Black
    
15. Suede
    
16. Bubblin
    
17. Milk N Honey