Soul music has been one of my favorite genres to see live over the last few years. Its live instrumentation and the layers that come along with it are simply unmatched.
When I saw 54 Ultra was coming to San Antonio with his unique Latin spin on the genre, I knew I had to be there at this sold-out show.
The New Jersey-born artist is in the midst of the second leg of his first-ever headline tour in the US, which wraps up with his debut performances at Coachella in April.
I hadn’t seen the Paper Tiger packed out this much in quite a while, so I knew we were in for something special.
Outside of the Latin influences he brings to soul, I didn’t know too much about him until my friends, who are much more tapped into Latin artists than I am, recommended him. This Dominican-Puerto Rican artist actually started as a rap producer, making beats for others, before going to college and interning at a recording studio, where, by learning guitar, he tapped into further, more personal sounds.
He named himself 54 Ultra after a famous club named Studio 54 and Frank Ocean’s project “Nostalgia Ultra,” and it was during COVID when his first releases started coming out. He released singles like “Where Are You” and “Heaven Knows,” with this latter track significantly elevating him in the indie ranks.
He then worked on his debut EP that came out last year, “First Works,” and even did some producing with Kali Uchis, briefly joining her on tour to open.
What drew me in was not just that he made old-fashioned music and adorned an old-fashioned style, but that it felt genuinely authentic to him. I mean, the dude looks and dresses straight out of the 1970s, and the soulful nature of his music perfectly matches his aesthetic.
But the part that makes him stand out was the Latin flavor from his Dominican-Puerto Rican roots that he infuses into his sound. We got a little bit of cumbia, followed by some touches of salsa, all making for a clear appreciation of Latin culture, the music, and the people who have brought it to life for generations.
The singer opened with “No Tengo Valor,” one of my favorites off First Works. It has this seamless back-and-forth between English and Spanish, and the synths involved are perfect for his vintage sound. The deeply emotive “Upside Down” is another one of my favorites that he played, with his vocals and the band sounding absolutely terrific.
The band was locked in the entire performance, even having this great call and response moment with 54 Ultra. The singer would deliver an expressive phrase in which the band would respond with their own sharp sound like a keyboard riff or a horn punch.
This exchange between the two sounds just kept going, with the crowd’s cheers of excitement growing louder each time.
I talked to a group of three friends after the show, with one named Antonio saying it was his favorite part of the night.
“When they do that little solo when everybody does their little part, oh my God, I loved that part,” he told me.
His other friends felt a close tie to the Latin aspects of the show. One of them, Ruby, loved it “when he interacts with the fans, and the Mexican representation for the Latino community.”
The other of the group simply summed it up by saying “Representation.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the first instance of representation we got the whole night with the show’s opening act, Orca, right here from San Antonio.
The alternative soul duo of vocalist Mylena Velasquez and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Louis Galloway had been on this entire tour run with 54 Ultra but got to close things out back home. Velasquez’s voice and presence on stage gave me heavy Beabadoobee vibes with more of a softer sound.
It was soulful in a more soothing way that the crowd truly felt the connection with.
What he saved for last was his most streamed track, “Heaven Knows” and the crowd was ready for it, singing along to every word with so much love for this music.
However, 54 Ultra does have an indie rock side to him and he waited until the encore to fully unleash it.
He and the band came out for their encore and out of nowhere, in a complete 180 from the vintage spell he had put us all under just minutes before, had the crowd open up a pit. And man, they got active so quickly that I didn’t even notice a crowd surfer spawning above me.
It was a sudden burst of energy unlike anything else we had experienced that night, but it was so fun and somehow fit 54 Ultra’s artistry perfectly.
This show was a reflection of how authentic he is as an artist, and this sold-out crowd in San Antonio was a reflection of how many people love him for that.
Coachella’s the lucky ones that are up next – everyone going better not disappoint out there in the desert.
