Don Toliver delivers high-octane psych-rap and rock fusion to Moody Center

By John Melendez

It began with a scorching guitar solo.

The psych-rap singer turned rock star stood inside a Globe of Death, the stage’s dangerously intriguing centerpiece. Caleb Spikes, the night’s guitar-shredding sheppard, stood on the stairs of an industrial catwalk that hung over the entire production.

Caleb “Don” Toliver, delivered a fiery, 109-minute, electric guitar-fueled hip-hop performance last Wednesday, October 23. Oil drum pyrotechnics punctuated the diesel-powered aesthetic of the 28-song set. Spikes, who played guitar on Toliver’s fourth studio album, Hardstone Psycho, added a layer of heavy-metal authenticity that underscored the 30-year-old trap biker’s latest sonic direction.

The Austin leg of the Psycho Tour began with four of the most mosh-inducing tracks off the

Houston-bred rapper’s latest album. The diverse setlist spanned cuts like “Best You Had,” “Private Landing” and his career-defining collaboration, “CAN’T SAY.”

In the final lap, Toliver gave a pulsing, red-hued rendition of “Swangin’ on Westheimer” where studio synths were replaced by aching guitar strains that added a new layer of rock-ballad sentimentality to the R&B jam.

Then two motorcyclists rode out on stage.

A pounding drummer indicated the arrival of the album’s first single, “BANDIT.”

Soon both bikers were swirling inside the metal-mesh sphere as the hip-hop track morphed into a heavy-metal hybrid. Spikes and Toliver stood on the scaffolding overlooking the high-speed, 360 degree spectacle that delivered on its drawn out anticipation.

The atmospheric R&B crooner drove the show home as he once again played the night’s adrenaline-drenched anthem and roaring chant of a closer, “TORE UP.”

Then he played it a couple more times.

Each chorus loop became another gallon of fuel thrown onto the crowd’s stomping, riotous ignition spark. As the repeats ceased, the attendees' hoarse voices and sweaty bodies were lasting proof of the internal combustion that had just taken place.

Don Toliver Setlist at the Moody Center 10.23.24

• "KRYPTONITE"
• "TORE UP"
• "BROTHER STONE"
• "4X4"
• "Cardigan"
• "Had Enough"
• "GANG GANG"
• "WHAT TO DO?"
• "FIELD TRIP"
• "No Pole"
• "BACKSTREETS"
• "NEW DROP"
• "CAN'T SAY"
• "ATTITUDE"
• "Best You Had"
• "Embarrassed"
• "Private Landing"
• "Smoke"
• "Lemondade"
• "GEEKED UP"
• "Swangin' on Westheimer"
• "No Idea"
  
• "FE!N"
• "BANDIT"
• "Too Many Nights"
• "Around Me"
• "After Party"
• "TORE UP"