Approaching a year to the day of his viral hit “Million Dollar Baby”—which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100—Tommy Richman is on a quest to prove he is not a viral one-hit-wonder.
Two months deep into his first headlining international tour, Richman is translating his meteoric rise into a commanding live presence. Following a sold-out performance at Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, the 27-stop Coyote tour brings the genre-bending sounds of Richman’s sophomore album to packed venues across the U.S. and five cities in Europe. For his stop in Denver, Colorado, Richman visited the historic Gothic Theatre, with a nearly sold-out crowd of just over 1,000 fans packing out the venue on a snowy Colorado night.
Richman’s set, consisting mostly of his 11-track debut album, Coyote, felt like an expansion of the sound that captivated so many with “Million Dollar Baby.” Joined on stage by a small live band, including Jonah Roy, contributing producer of Coyote, Richman sounded unbelievably comfortable in front of the crowd.
The set was performed mostly without backing tracks, and the live versions of Richman’s music sounded even more captivating than on the album. Obvious fan favorites throughout the night were “Devil Is a Lie” and “Million Dollar Baby” alongside “Letterman” and “seems like time moves forever”, where Paco and mynameisntjmack joined Richman on stage to sing their respective parts of the tracks.
Photo credit: @KeskeCreative
Opening the night were two of Richman’s longtime collaborators, Paco and mynameisntjmack, both of whom are featured on Coyote. Paco warmed up the crowd before mynameisntjmack played through a series of hits from his latest EP FORego+ and his two-pack of singles “PLAN B.” and “BODY SHOP” (feat. Tommy Richman). A first-generation Mexican American artist based in Los Angeles, Paco masterfully blends a modern Latin sound with what he has described as Wave Funk Pop music. Paco’s debut EP, Cuatro, released in 2023, is an amalgamation of the emotional chords of Omar Apollo and the dance/funk of Kaytranada.
Following Paco was mynameisntjmack, a Virginia local who has been in the mix with Richman and co. for years. His debut P, mynameisnt, earned him a spot on Complex’s Best New Artists of 2024 and the Tidal Best of 2024 list for his track “aslongas” (Feat. Wakai & Tommy Richman). Jmack’s music can only be described as soulful, lyrical rap reminiscent of JPEGMafia or Smino. Towards the end of his set, Jmack teased his now-announced newest album, Bookamark 2, the sequel to his 2023 Ep, Bookmark.
Closing out his night in Denver, Richman promised new music and thanked his bandmates. While exiting the venue I thought back to the widespread commentary in the aftermath of “Million Dollar Baby” claiming that Richman’s new sound would be remembered as a blip in music trends’ music phase. After seeing it performed live, I am more confident than ever that Tommy Richman is here to stay.
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