Childish Gambino: The New World as a Final Departure

Childish Gambino surrounded by light strolling on to stage at Bridgestone Arena, Ria Skyer

After years of relative silence in the music scene, Donald Glover – musically known as Childish Gambino – has released new material and kicked off his farewell tour. 

In May, Glover announced the “New World Tour,” which will span North America, Europe and Oceania within the next nine months.  

These plans accompanied the re-issue of his 2020 record, “Atavista,” formerly known as “3.15.20.”  

Glover spent the rest of the summer rolling out his final album, “Bando Stone and the New World,” teasing visuals for the coinciding film, and embarking on its titular tour in August. 

The multimedia spectacular then landed at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Sep. 1. 

Before any music filled the arena, two circular stages stood with enough fiber optics to slingshot between both sides.  

While those details were a great indicator of what was to come, it prefaced nothing for Glover’s opening act, WILLOW. 

 In May, WILLOW released her fifth solo studio album, “Empathogen,” which heavily employs jazz elements like odd-quarter time signatures and syncopated riffs heard best in songs like “I know that face” and “symptom of life.”  

While this style has not gotten her the TikTok exposure that elevated prior pop-rock tunes such as “Wait A Minute!” and “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l,” WILLOW’s newfound ornaments suit a more natural setting for her voice and stage presence.  

When performing, WILLOW exuded nothing less than fortitude and grace alongside a band building her sonic landscapes layer by layer.  

The show was nowhere near started until a robot with sine waves for a mouth appeared on the B-stage.  

Childish Gambino performs to a rocking crowd at Bridgestone Arena, Ria Skyer

But alas, it was simply Glover and not a guest appearance from Daft Punk.  

“H3@RT$ W3RE M3@NT T0 F7¥” opened the show and guided different strobe light effects on sequential beats.  

This theme played out for most of the first act. The brightest light in the whole arena was Glover’s gospel-esque vocal chops.  

These were most evident on tracks like “In the Night,” “Steps Beach” and “Feels Like Summer.”  

After shuffling through most of the 808’s from “Bando Stone and the New World,” Glover addressed the audience.  

“Are there real fans in Nashville?” Glover asked after every half-track he performed, as if there was someone in the crowd more excited to hear “Yoshinoya” than “Me and Your Mama” or “Heartbeat.”  

When given the choice for a surprise song, the audience chose “III. Telegraph Ave. (Oakland by Lloyd)” instead of “Dadvocate,” a Bando Stone deep cut that Glover debuted a week prior in Brooklyn alongside Shaboozey.  

 An option from “Awaken, My Love” would have been a lot more radical. 

While a million-dollar light show is entrancing, the spectacle almost appears out of focus when centered around an album that has not been fully contextualized by the artist.  

The “Bando Stone and the New World” film has not been given a release date yet, forcing fans to pick up content crumbs wherever Glover leaves them. T 

The multistage OLED arena is not a bad crumb to sweep, despite the deeper world behind this soundtrack still being unknown to the masses.  

What realistic similarities could there be between a dystopian island-ridden Glover from the film trailer and the fiber optic spacesuit Glover we see on arena screens? 

So yes, Nashville has real Childish Gambino fans. The turnout from Sunday’s show proves fans are willing to see their artist at the last chance they can, regardless of the outcome.  

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This article was written by Ria Skyer