Written by Regina Sanders. Media by Kayla Morton.
Jon Bellion has had a busy few years. After releasing his debut album, “The Human Condition,” in June 2016, the Long Island native’s life has been nonstop. This past September, he embarked on the third leg of his The Human Condition Tour. In a series of tweets from June 6, Bellion wrote,
“Never in my wildest dreams would I assume that an album could stretch this far. First tour (Part 1) we thought wow, we sold out in minutes. Second tour (Part 2) we doubled and tripled the room sizes and sold out in minutes. I truly thought that was the end of it. But after a while we realized still so many people were upset about not being able to get tickets. Which was absolutely mind blowing. Lol. So, for the THIRD time I would like to announce The Human Condition Tour Part 3.”
One of the stops featured on the third go-around was St. Louis, Missouri. On October 19, Bellion brought his Beautiful Mind band to The Pageant on Delmar. Accompanied by frequent collaborators Travis Mendes and Blaque Keyz, the entertainers ensured an electric show. The venue was packed with people of all ages.
Although each area contained stools and chairs, they were rarely utilized. With energetic sets and an engaging crowd, the show was charged. Once Mendes’ set was complete he announced, to the excitement of the crowd, that the next person to take the stage would be Jon Bellion, leading the crowd to chant the headliner’s name. When he did come, Bellion opened his set with “He is the Same,” which also happens to serve as the opener of his debut album.
Largely playing songs from his newest album, Bellion mixed his setlist with fan-favorites “Woodstock” and “Luxury” from his previous mixtapes. Mixing stories, such as explaining the “yeet” sound effect in the song “Guillotine,” with music left the crowd mesmerized.
One concertgoer commented on the authenticity of the show, noticing how Bellion sang live and played a variety of instruments, including a beat pad, drums, and a piano. Another attendee mentioned how they could feel the emotion of the crowd as they sang “Human” back to Bellion.
Bellion closed his show with a performance of outro song, “Hand of God.” The album version is broken into two sections, the first is sung by Bellion himself and the second sung by Sheldon Ray and the Andre Crouch Choir. For his live performance, Bellion sung the first section as normal. Before the second half, however, he paused to deliver a heartfelt message to the crowd.
“The way that this nation is going to change is not from a president, it’s from the youth of this nation. Make some noise for yourselves one time. Here’s where you can really make a difference. Here’s the secret. If you wake up by yourself, not with your friends and family just because people around you agree, if you wake up by yourself every morning making a conscious effort to love your neighbor as yourself. Does that make sense to the people in this room?”
Once Bellion completed his message, the second section of the album version of “Hand of God” continued to play as the stage lights blinked on beat. As the final note played and the lights shut off, the crowd erupted in a frenzy.
After various chants for an encore, he obliged and reemerged to perform his song “Jim Morrison.”
A staple in the show, the final chorus is often used as a time to see which city’s audience can get the wildest. To the delight of the crowd, Bellion noticed a young child in the front of the audience. As the viewers cheered him on, the young boy shouted, “rock on” into a microphone as a signal for the audience to go crazy. With the end of this show, Bellion made sure to promise that this tour was a “victory lap” and he would soon return home to create more music.
For now, though, he’s focused on finishing this tour and ‘Drewapalooza‘, a benefit show for a childhood friend who was paralyzed. Money raised will be donated to the Reeve Foundation in hopes of finding a cure for spinal cord injury.
To find out more about Jon Bellion, visit his official website.
