On 10/25/2021, I was fortunate to be in the building as H.E.R’s Back Of My Mind Tour came to Washington DC. Many in the sell out crowd spent several hours outside in the rain (waiting for the doors at The Anthem to open), so they could find a prime spot close to the stage. My wife and I can personally attest to this, but when the night was over, we deemed it well worth it, given the amazing performance that H.E.R. delivered.
H.E.R., which stands for Having Everything Revealed, is the stage name for Gabriella Sarmiento (aka Gabi) Wilson. She was born and raised in Vallejo, CA (in the San Francisco Bay Area). Her father was an iron worker by day and a musician by night. Spending time with her father and his band exposed H.E.R. to music at a very young age, and she soon demonstrated her ability to sing and play multiple instruments (piano, drums, bass and guitar). H.E.R. honed her skills and went on to appear at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem and also had a well known appearance on the Today Show at age 10 in 2008. There she sang and played piano in a brilliant cover of Alicia Keys’ hit “If I Ain’t Got You”. After seeing that performance and the poise and talent she exhibited at 10 years old, it is no surprise to anyone that she is where she is today: a bonafide superstar with legendary musical skills.
To date, H.E.R. has released two EP Compilations (H.E.R. in 2017 and I Used To Know H.E.R. in 2019) in addition to her first album, Back Of My Mind, which was released in June 2021. Outside of her own projects, H.E.R. has collaborated with other artists like Robert Glasper, DJ Khaled, JhenéAiko, Daniel Caesar, etc. To date, H.E.R.’s musical excellence has earned her 4 Grammy Awards, 1 Academy Award and numerous Soul Train, BET, NAACP Image, iHeart Radio Music and MTV Video Music awards. These are career accomplishments for many artists, but considering H.E.R. is only 24 years old, she has a great chance to add to these over time and become truly legendary.
In DC, the Back Of The Mind Tour lineup started with rising talent. Ajanee performed briefly to get the night started. She has a nice voice (she is also one of H.E.R.’s background singers) and high energy. She sang her single “Money” in addition to a few 90s R&B classics that got the crowd going. Next up was Maeta, who has two EPs to her credit: Do Not Disturbin 2019 and the more recent Habits released in April 2021. Maeta has a silky smooth voice and the crowd responded well to her, especially when she sang “Bitch Don’t Be Mad”, a song about that ex that can’t seem to get over the fact that her man has moved on.
Singer, songwriter and musician Tone Stith was up next and he did not disappoint. Stith performed for about 40 minutes and his set was most definitely high energy. He has an impressive voice with incredible range. He also played guitar and bass and he can move (much to the delight of the adoring female fans in the audience). Tone Stith released his EP Still FYM at the beginning of October, and he sang a few songs from that project, including “Something In The Water”, and he brought Maeta back on stage to perform the song with him. This song has a vibe that reminds me of Carl Thomas’s“I Wish”. Stith has also written songs for Chris Brown and has collaborated with many other artists, including H.E.R., Chris Brown, Kiana Ledé, Ty Dolla $ign, etc. Stith really impressed when he performed his 2020 single “Devotion” ashis vocal range and guitar skills were stellar.
Finally, the moment arrived for H.E.R. to take the stage, and TAKE the stage she did! Her band came out first and H.E.R. ran out from the shadows and jumped right into “We Going Crazy”, a DJ Khaled song that she was featured on. It was the perfect song to get her show started as it got the crowd hyped and prepared for what was to come. H.E.R. performed for an impressive 1 hour and 20 minutes, and the crowd was there for ALL of it. She then performed “I Can Have It All” and “Slide” from Back Of My Mind. H.E.R. then sang “B.S.” a Jhené Aiko song on which she is featured. She then slowed the pace a little and took us back to her first EP (H.E.R.) and sang “Say It Again” and “Avenue”, before performing the much anticipated (at least for me) song “Focus”, also from the H.E.R. EP. She followed that up with “Damage”, a smooth, mid-tempo cut that speaks of how good a relationship could be (assuming it is not taken for granted).
Next up, two faves, from Back Of My Mind, “Come Through” and “Closer To Me”. For the latter, H.E.R. ran over the keyboards to play and did so without missing a beat. She stayed on the keys as she solicited a response from her “Day 1s” in the crowd before singing the first song she ever released called “Losing”.
H.E.R. next goes into her bag, showing the versatility she is known for by grabbing her acoustic guitar to sing “Comfortable”, “Girl Like Me” (her cover of a Jazmine Sullivan song where she is featured), “Cheat Code”, “Sweetest Thing” (Lauryn Hill cover), and a few verses of Deniece Williams’ classic “Free” before easing into her classic “Best Part”, where she stayed for a while, much to the crowd’s delight.
The final part of the show started with her thanking the crowd and her fans for allowing her to have a voice through her music, as she recalled that not too long ago, she felt voiceless. She then sang the initial portions of Marvin Gaye’s iconic masterpiece “What’s Going On”, before smoothly transitioning into her song, “Fight For You”. The song is from the Judas and The Black Messiah movie soundtrack and won her an Oscar. She then picked up her electric guitar and performed “Hard Place” and the soul stirring “Make It Rain”. H.E.R. and the band took the crowd into the final stretch by beginning the song “Glory” with a snippet of Queen’s legendary “We Will Rock You”. She then took us home by rocking out on guitar while covering Lenny Kravitz’s“Are You Gonna Go My Way”. For the final song, H.E.R. jumped on the drums to sing “We Made It” before thanking the thoroughly pleased crowd at The Anthem and calling it a night.
It was truly an amazing night of music by a tremendously talented musician! H.E.R. is a singer, songwriter, musician (she played the acoustic and electric guitar, bass and drums during this show – I am certain she plays more instruments as well). She is truly versatile also as her music encompasses R&B, Hip Hop, Soul, Gospel Jazz and Rock. I thoroughly enjoyed all the artists that performed tonight. H.E.R. is a once in a generation talent and in my opinion is a legend in the making. If you can catch her in concert when she comes to your city, by all means do it. I bet you will not be disappointed.
Please check out the music of Ajanee, Maeta, Tone Stith and H.E.R. on the various media platforms.
Here are a few videos (Come Through and Damage) of H.E.R. on YouTube:
H.E.R. Back Of My Mind Tour – The Anthem – Set List
1. We Going Crazy – (DJ Khaled)
2. I Can Have It All
3. Slide
4. B.S. (Jhené Aiko)
5. Say It Again
6. Avenue
7. Focus
8. Damage
9. Come Through
10. Closer To Me
11. Losing
12. Comfortable
13. Girl Like Me (Jazmine Sullivan)
14. Cheat Code
15. Sweetest Thing (Lauryn Hill cover)
16. Free (Deniece Williams cover)
17. Best Part
18. What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye cover)
19. Fight For You
20. Hard Place
21. Make It Rain
22. We will Rock You (Queen cover) interlude
23. Glory
24. Are You Gonna Go My Way (Lenny Kravitz cover)
25. We Made It
David L. Dixon
DLD Photography
