Review: T-Pain at The Anthem

In the pantheon of pop music royalty from the early 2000s, T-Pain and his undeniably addictive songs remain some of the most memorable pop bangers of our generation. Beyond the catchy, autotune-driven songs of the his catalogue, T-Pain stunned both D.C. and the world with the reveal of his Tiny Desk concert at NPR nearly eight years ago when he sang some of his most popular songs acapella, revealing his incredible natural singing voice. While we here at Capitol Sound DC were lucky enough to see T-Pain perform a short, surprise set at SXSW 2022, we were hopeful that one day we’d get to revel in a full-fledged set.

Luckily for us, T-Pain graced D.C. on his recent “Escape from Wiscansin” Tour earlier in July. In a true return to form, the rapper and songwriter packed out a particularly hot night at The Anthem, weaving some of his most iconic Top 40 hits with mixes of other pop songs, turning the 6,000 capacity venue into one of the biggest parties imaginable. He and his DJ fused the classic and new through mixing songs like “Bartender” with Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It.”

The crowd sang every word to each song so loudly that it echoed through the venue. Toward the end of the set, T-Pain pointed out his father in the crowd and took a second to reflect on how much it meant to him to be back on the road, performing for such a large crowd. He ended his set doing a karaoke rendition of “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath, bringing the show to a close with yet another surprising, dynamic performance. Following this show, it’s beyond clear that T-Pain still has more talent, skill, and energy to reveal to us all.

Check out photos from T-Pain’s set below, all by Meredith Wohl.