Thundercat’s It Is What It Is Tour in Philadelphia at The Fillmore with Channel Tres

Written By | LaMonica Cobbs

Thundercat touched down in Philadelphia at the Fillmore with the “It Is What It Is” tour and he brought along house-pop-rapper Channel Tres. Thundercat was scheduled to play at the Fillmore in March of last year, but due to the pandemic the show was canceled. The two played to a sold-out hype crowd. Fans didn’t mind being shoulder to shoulder to enjoy great music from their favorite artists. At least they were warm, it was a chilly night in Philly.

See more photos of Channel Tres HERE

Channel Tres got us bumping with house music set. For a minute I thought we were at a club. Everyone was bobbing their heads, including myself and security.  I was shocked when he came from behind his DJ booth and proceeded to bless us with music from his from EP. He spun his own record, “Weed Man”, while performing. Many artists can’t do that, in fact, Channel Tres said that himself. A few people in the crowd were requesting songs, someone said “do Controller!” This was my first introduction to Channel Tres; I’ll be adding him to my rotation.

See more photos of Thundercat HERE

Thundercat’s funk R&B soul jazz fusion would’ve blown the roof off the Fillmore if possible. Fans sang along as he performed songs from his Grammy award winning album “It Is What It Is” and one of my favorite songs, “Them Changes”. After singing Overseas, Thundercat, whose name is Stephen, asked fans “has anybody ever been in love?” Fans didn’t seem to respond well, however they seemed more excited by his follow up question. “Has anybody ever played PlayStation?” His advice was “that’s exactly where you should be, love is a little too fucking complicated”. The fans agreed. Thundercat told several stories between songs. I love it when artists interact with the crowd. Thundercat made time to sign a fan’s album and compliment a fan’s drawing of him. ­

Photo Credit | LaMonica Cobbs