The theme of SoMo’s concert on Tuesday was baby-making melodies, which, due to the two ranges of the ages present, was either inappropriate or far too appropriate.

The House of Blues hosted rhythm and blues singer SoMo along with openers Kirko Bangz and Jordan Bratton Tuesday evening. 6:30 p.m. was a strange time for a show consisting of hip-hop and rap, but it didn’t stop the concert from selling out.

The first act was Kirko Bangz. The rapper was once all over the top charts for singles such as “Drank In My Cup” and “What Yo Name Iz?” from 2011, which is the equivalent of antiquity in the world of popular music. These not-classics were performed as well as his more recent singles featuring Fetty Wap and August Alsina. Kirko Bangz did a good job at hyping up the crowd while rapping, singing and simulating sex with the microphone stand with these bass-heavy tracks. Bangz’s gyration with the microphone stand would set the tone for the remainder of the show.

Following Bangz was Jordan Bratton. Bratton has achieved popularity these past few months for his hits from EP “Youth” including the single “Prisoner” featuring Chance the Rapper and “Victoria.” The young talent showcased his impressive range and pitch with various tracks from his first mixtape “The Grey Area” and the previously mentioned work. While his ability was clear, he showed some immaturity in stage presence. He seemed fairly comfortable during his second performance in New Orleans, but there’s room to grow in both his voice musically and his confidence in experimenting with his higher range, which he killed when he used it. This will all come from experience in the industry and continuing to perform.

“I think shows definitely help shape where I want to go musically,” Bratton said in an interview the next day. “When I do a show, I’m much more aware when I go into the studio to make a song.” 

After a lengthy set-up followed by a few technical difficulties, SoMo took the stage to a crowd exploding with cheers and screeches. SoMo absolutely killed his set. The live band featuring a keyboardist, drum player and guitarist accompanied the crooner in all of his hits between his two mixtapes and debut album including “Bad Chick” and “Kings & Queens (Throw It Up).” His performance also including undressing, then coming back onstage with a new shirt just to strip down again. Another interesting moment was when SoMo brought a girl from the crowd on stage, serenaded her and then brought her backstage. What followed was a 10-minute guitar solo during which everybody was wondering what the hell happened to that girl. SoMo returned to the stage—with a different shirt—and continued his set, with no sight of the girl throughout the rest of the evening. SoMo’s set was twice as long as the openers, but twice as good, with his smooth vocals and tone dominating the intimate room.

A pleasant surprise from the concert was the many covers that were performed. Bratton sang Drake’s “Hold On We’re Going Home,” The Weeknd’s “The Hills” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” which displayed his talent at reading the room. SoMo originally found fame from his YouTube covers, so it was appropriate that about a third of his set included partial covers of many hits from the past couple years including Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” “Power Trip” by J. Cole and Miguel, and Tove Lo’s “Talking Body.” SoMo gets bonus points for performing a cover of Jeremih’s “Planes” with the Chance the Rapper verse that was excluded from the final version, but released on SoundCloud as a remix to the original track.