2024<\/a>, marrying the nostalgic, genre-defining sound of \u201990s R&B and soul with the trap and 808-heavy sound of modern R&B. The project was followed by \u201cPHOLKS,\u201d an EP showcasing Thomas\u2019 hulking electric funk side. Where \u201cMUTT\u201d asked the listener to nod their heads to the beat, \u201cPHOLKS\u201d demanded them to move their hips to the groove. Admittedly, I was more excited to dance to the funk cuts over the crooning of the album of the tour\u2019s namesake, ready for the entire display nonetheless.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/40e4e7e2-dd59-47ca-a87e-eb5fc1811c15_source-e1766764630751.webp\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoenix, make your New Year\u2019s Resolution Count!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re $14,000 away from our End-of-Year campaign goal, with just a five days left! We\u2019re ready to deliver \u2014 but we need the resources to do it right. If New Times matters to you, please contribute today to help us expand our current events coverage when it\u2019s needed most.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Van Buren stage was set with floor-to-ceiling drapes replete with a gigantic, shimmering bust of Leon Thomas\u2019 head suspended precariously above the stage like Damocles\u2019 sword. The pop funk of Leon Thomas came with a giant Funko Pop of Leon Thomas. Leon set the pace with singles and album cuts from \u201cMUTT,\u201d including \u201cVibes Don\u2019t Lie\u201d and \u201cFarfetched\u201d with a Fender Strat slung across the chest. <\/p>\n
Going lick for lick with his tour bassist, introduced as his \u201cbrother, Obie,\u201d the pair shredded guitar solos across the tracks, making them feel larger than life. Couples peppered throughout the audience swayed hypnotically in awe of the rock-laced R&B being served. Thomas delivered instructions to bark at the end of each song if the vibe in the room was, in fact, not lying. I did my best impression of a Cane Corso bark, even if it came out a bit more Pomeranian to the people around me. I howled for that Fender to pop and twang with tracks from the \u201cPHOLKS\u201d EP, and Leon did not let this dog down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I marked my territory in the crowd, gyrating and two-stepping as Leon bounced from \u201cMy Muse\u201d to \u201cJust The Way You Are\u201d. Just as I started to feel a bead of sweat, Leon tossed his guitar to the side, kindly motioned for his drummer to get out of the way, and took over on the sticks. A deft display I\u2019ve seen from other multi-instrumentalist maestros such as Anderson.Paak and River Tiber. The crowd responded with energy and screams, even if they were a bit too \u201cgrown and sexy\u201d to truly cut a rug like the songs deserved. Men dressed to the nines stood planted, acting as sentries for their ladies who were truly letting loose. A guy standing next to me did not move for any song the entire night, but seemed to be enjoying himself with the most subtle of head nods. To each their own, but I came to move it. Leon reminded the frenzied crowd that the funk has always been within him, playing \u201cBlue Hundreds\u201d from his debut album \u201cElectric Dusk\u201d. The lights refracted off the enormous Leon Thomas bust, creating a disco ball effect throughout the venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leon quipped at the crowd, asking if anyone remembered him \u201cfrom his acting days\u201d. Thomas\u2019 beginnings harken back to starring in the short-lived, but popular, Nickelodeon original series \u201cVictorious\u201d alongside none other than megastar pop icon Ariana Grande. At 13, he was writing songs such as \u201cSong To U\u201d which made it into the show. I never watched it, but I remember him as Eddie on HBO\u2019s \u201cInsecure.\u201d He didn\u2019t have the signature red dreads he has these days when he made his appearance as a notch in Issa Rae\u2019s belt on the critically acclaimed series.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The undisputed high of the night came when Leon and crew got to the crowd favorite \u201cYES IT IS,\u201d a track that feels as warm as a gospel hymn. The entire room sang along to the chorus. <\/p>\n
Then, in a move that spun heads, Thomas extended the outro and remixed it with the classic Floetry song \u201cSay Yes.\u201d Hands extended to the roof as we all were taken to church. We were receiving the gospel of R&B at this late Sunday service. What was very clear to me at this point of the show was that Leon was bigger than the Van Buren stage. Phoenix was truly blessed to have seen him at this level. Leon Thomas is an act that demands to be seen in an arena, or even better, a stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wondered if the \u201cPHOLKS\u201d EP was the soft launch of a bigger, rock-and-rolling, funk-fused R&B sound that could make him a household name. Would winning Best R&B Song at the 2026 Grammy Awards put Leon on the big stage? With one Grammy already under his arm for his collaboration on SZA\u2019s \u201cSnooze,\u201d the question scratched at the back of my mind as a tired Phoenix audience couldn\u2019t keep up with Thomas, robbing us of an encore performance I learned was given to other cities that had the stamina. <\/p>\n
The grown and sexy crowd whimpered out after Thomas closed the show with the titular track \u201cMUTT\u201d. We were all bark and very little bite. <\/p>\n
See you next time, Leon. I promise these Phoenix mutts won\u2019t heel on your return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leon Thomas III attends the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025, in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":475928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,89977,14839,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-475927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-concert-reviews","12":"tag-hip-hop","13":"tag-phoenix","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115794217156065163","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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