by MJ Peters
Friday night, Tommy Richman took the stage at The Masonic in San Francisco, opening for The Kid Laroi on his A Perfect World Tour. Richman began singing as a child, studying opera and taking voice lessons at the Manhattan School of Music before releasing his first music on SoundCloud in 2016. The Virginia native broke into mainstream consciousness with his 2024 single “Million Dollar Baby,” which debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 after going viral on TikTok — but for those paying attention, it was the arrival of an artist who had already been quietly building something genuinely original.
His stage featured a simple park tree and bench, leaving room for Richman & his band to fill the stage with thumping drums and a layer of rock that electrifies his already energizing music. He opened his set with his latest single, “Changes”, a song inspired by his mother, who recently underwent Cochlear Implant Surgery to restore her hearing. I highly recommend that readers check out Richman’s Instagram (@TommyRichman) to learn more about how Richman has dedicated the song and the corresponding music videos to his mother and the deaf community.
I’ll admit that when entering this show, I only knew Tommy Richman from his hits “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”, “DEVIL IS A LIE” and “ACTIN UP”. I left the show absolutely in awe of his versatility as an artist. His show blended themes of rap, classic 90s hip-hop, punk-rock, and even house. With an electrifying opening guitar solo, it was clear from the start that this would be so much more than your typical rap performance. If you needed any more proof of this, his set ended with his guitarist whipping out a harmonica for the last song! However, as fun as this moment was, it did seem to end the set somewhat abruptly, which, for me as a viewer, left me slightly confused. There were moments when I wished that he would have engaged the crowd as much as I had seen him do online in previous shows, however this could be attributed to him being an opener.
Tommy Richman is coming to the end of his tour with The Kid Laroi, and plays his last show on June 11th in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit EverythingIsPunk.Com and stream his newest single, Changes, on Spotify & Apple Music!
Instagram: @TommyRichman
