Jan. 30, Gerald Earl Gillum, or better known as G-Eazy, performed at the Orpheum Theater. G-Eazy started his set at around 10:20 p.m., after openers Marty Grimes, Marc E. Bassy and Nef the Pharaoh performed, rappers with whom he has worked with in adolescence since his early mixtape days.

“I started making music when I was about 14 years old,” G-Eazy said. “I grew up surrounded by hip hop culture so naturally that’s what I was drawn to.”

The venue was sold out, hosting a crowd of a couple hundred of G-Eazy’s biggest fans. Some of the more devoted audience members had waited over 12 hours long for the doors to open. After they opened at 8 p.m., people shuffled in to the Orpheum’s large music hall and the first act started promptly a half hour later.

All three openers performed sets of about three to four songs each, ranging from R&B styled songs to hip hop and rap. After a brief intermission, G-Eazy’s stage crew set up an elaborate set that seemed to mimic the streets outside. The set included three mock shops with neon lights, signs, benches and flickering lights in windows. It seemed the set attempted to reflect the theme of his newest album “When It’s Dark Out,” placing G-Eazy and the audience in the middle of the night on a deserted street, a possible inspiration for some of the music on the album.

He performed most of the 17-track album and some of his older songs, including “Some Kind of Drug,” “Calm Down,” “You Got Me” and the extremely popular “Me, Myself and I.” There was a notable difference between his old and new material.

“It’s like anything else, we’re all human we all grow and evolve over time,” G-Eazy said. “I’m still the same Gerald but I guess my perspective on life has changed through the years.”

He wrapped up his set close to midnight, but with an overwhelming applause and request for an encore, he played another three full songs, finally bidding the crowd good night at midnight.

G-Eazy, whose alma mater is Loyola University across the street from Tulane’s campus, truly enjoys coming back to this city to perform. Having spent time here during the early years of his career, the return to New Orleans is a feeling he described at the concert as “amazing.”

Check out The Hullabaloo’s video coverage from the concert.