A good place to begin telling the story of GloRilla’s triumphant show in Houston Friday night is the end of the show. Not just because it was the part of the night reserved for the Memphis superstar’s biggest hits – show closers like “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME,” her Grammy-nominated breakout track “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” and the stands-alone encore smash, “Yeah Glo!” – but because it allowed an intrepid music reporter to talk with audience members walking back to their cars, homes and changed lives after the set in the 713 Music Hall parking lot.
Further down, working back to the beginning of the night, there are going to be thoughts from said intrepid reporter on the music performed because that’s what happens in these concert wraps. But hearing from Big Glo’s target audience, young women who have the best opportunities to fully feel and embrace her chart-topping songs about coming out on top, felt like the right place to start this review. After a few hours of bass-heavy bops from Glo and show openers Queen Key, Real Boston Richey and DJ Flexx Live, only the buzz of the show (and maybe some ear-ringing from the high decibel action) stood in the way of quiet contemplation on the impact rap’s self-proclaimed “Ghetto Philosopher” has on her fans.
We had no issue locating fans eager to discuss the night. The show was sold out and a healthy majority of the crowd were young, black women, the “GloRidaz” who adore GloRilla and have pushed her music streams and social media follows into the multi-millions. Nicole and Kiya stopped long enough to tell us, “It was great. I think she’s adorable and very endearing,” Nicole began. “Also, not only endearing, but her dance moves were not what I was expecting. And also, she’s endearing!” Kiya agreed with a laugh. “She’s very authentic.”
Glo’s authenticity is indeed endearing. It’s the thing that has attracted many to her fold, whether it’s through lyrics from songs like her megahit “Let Her Cook,” which was high up the setlist and featured dancers onstage alongside her, or moments between songs when she encouraged the gathered to “know your motherfucking worth.” For some artists, statements like that become platitudes but they remain authentic from GloRilla because she’s shared those sentiments with fans long before she hit the stage (around 9:20 p.m. last night).
Houston is the third stop on The Glorious Tour and to prep for the run, Glo shared her “30 Day GloRidaz Fast” with her 7 million Instagram followers. She encouraged her followers to follow her by not smoking or drinking, abstaining from sex, drinking lots of water, picking a book and finishing it and setting and accomplishing at least one personal goal. Endearing? We’d say so.
There were some men in the crowd too, obviously and we talked with a fan named Parker after the set.
“I loved the show. Glo speaks to everybody, she doesn’t only speak to females. It was dope, it was encouraging, it was motivating. It was everything I thought it would be,” he told us.
The show did have all the elements one would expect from a hip hop extravaganza – the afore-mentioned dancers doing keenly choreographed moves to songs like “HOLLON” and “STOP PLAYING,” lighted stairs which allowed the rap idol to hover above the crowd like a boss-ass deity and a devoted audience singing along to the songs and steadying their smartphones to film favorites for TikTok, the true measure of whether a show is going well in 2025. Judging by all the phones capturing so much of the action, the night was an overwhelming success.
“My name’s Francesca and I’m from Houston and I loved the ‘Glorious’ show, she was so good tonight. The best.” Francesca considered the entire show the highlight of the show, unable to single out a moment that stood out more than all the others. “I love everything about Big Glo. She’s inspirational. We love her here in Houston.” We asked another fan, Kei, what it is about GloRilla that Houston fans love and she stated simply, “She’s just that girl.” That’s the sort of plain-stated philosophy for which Glo is known, a further indication of her influence on the culture.
We could have talked with fans all night about it, but as GloRilla has famously stated herself, “At the end of the day, the day gotta end.” The tour has only begun so take it not from this intrepid reporter but the many Houston fans who showed out to show love and catch the Glorious Tour if it’s headed your way.
The Openers: A formidable trio got the night started and put the crowd in the right mood to Glo up. Chicago rapper Queen Key’s set wasn’t quite as long as her golden locks, but she gave strong vibes and set the girl power tone. She later joined Glo onstage for the song “Hell Woods 2.” Real Boston Richey delivered a set that was heavy on selfies with the crowd who were solidly into the Florida rapper’s music, particularly tracks like “Bullseye” and “Help Me.” DJ Flexx Live set the tone just ahead of GloRilla with crowd-pleasers like DJ Chose & Beatking’s “Thick,” Tee Grizzley’s “First Day Out” and Keyshia Cole’s “Love,” which was a masterstroke that got nearly every woman in the crowd (and, okay, some of us guys, too) singing.
Personal Bias: Being a nearly 60 year-old gentleman at a GloRilla show will get you some odd looks and Mrs. Sendejas and I did get a few last night. This wasn’t simply perception, it was reality. When we ordered refreshments from Jo, a super nice 713 Music Hall bartender (and a fellow fan of hummingbirds!), she told us the crew behind the bar was taking wagers on why two folks our age might be in attendance. According to Jo, the leading bet was we’d been dragged by our kid (grandkid???) to the concert.
Not exactly right, but not way off the mark, either. I got into Glo because my kid, Marissa, is into GloRilla. We trade notes on songs and stack Glo’s tracks into “Power Hour” playlists we create for one another, 60 minutes of tunes to help us respectively kick ass the first hour of any challenging workday. That’s how I got familiar with “Yeah Glo!” and “Let Her Cook,” my two favorites. I didn’t have to talk with fans leaving the show about how Glo’s songs make you feel like you’ll conquer the world any given day. She’s done that for Marissa and for me, too. As Nicole and Kiya told us at the end of the night (and way up there in paragraph three of this review) – endearing.
The Crowd: Decidedly female and overwhelmingly young, so young that venturing a guess I’d say no one who was at Glo’s show felt like they may have been missing out on whatever was occurring across town at the Bun B rodeo spectacular.
Random Notebook Dump: I always enjoy teaming up with the professional photographers whose incredible work appears with these random words that pop outta my weird head, but I have a special place for working with Sean Thomas, whose images grace this article. I wrote for Sean’s first photo assignment for Houston Press and watching his coverage of the area’s music and sports scenes has been a joy. He’s very accomplished and his website’s worth a follow if you’re into event photography. Plus, just as nice a person as you’ll find out there and super devoted to capturing the essence of a show for all of you.
