The SOS Tour was the second concert tour and first arena tour by American singer-songwriter SZA, in support of her second studio album, SOS (2022). It was announced on December 13 alongside merchandise for the album, four days after the album's release. The tour originally had 18 dates, all of which were in North America. Due to high demand, SZA announced two more legs after the first one ended; the second and third consists of 15 shows in Europe and 21 in North America, respectively.
Lasting for about 90 minutes, every show has a set list of over 30 songs, most of which are from SOS. Some are taken from Ctrl (2017), her debut studio album. Select shows have had surprise guests, who performed with SZA songs on which they had collaborated. Omar Apollo, Raye, and D4vd are the opening acts for each leg, respectively.
A nautical visual motif persisted throughout the concerts, and theatrical and cinematic influences were apparent. This was intentional; with the tour, SZA aimed for catharsis: to "pop ass and cry and give theater". There was a loose plot where a fishing trawler sailed to sea and sunk, some moments referenced the films Titanic (1997) and Kill Bill (2003–2004), and the production was inspired by Broadway and Disney films like Cinderella (1950). Stage settings included a pier, the trawler, a lighthouse, and a seabed. Every show began and ended with SZA on a diving board, recreating the SOS cover art. To start the show, she appeared to jump off the board and into the waters below her, done through pre-filmed visual effects.
Background
SZA's debut studio album, Ctrl, was released in 2017. Her next, SOS, was highly awaited. This was in large part due to Ctrl critical acclaim, as well as the five-year-long wait and the several delays that occurred surrounding SOS release. In November 2022, SZA told Billboard that the album would come out the following month. She posted the track list via Twitter on December 5, and SOS was released four days later to critical and commercial success.
In promotion of SOS, SZA announced merchandise for the album on December 13. At the same time, she revealed she would go on tour in early 2023 in support of the album. She wrote on Instagram, "Time to take this shit on the road!" Tickets went on sale via SZA's website on December 16, at 12 pm local time, with pre-sales hosted by Ticketmaster one day beforehand. Several publications called the tour one of 2023's most anticipated; some cited the critical acclaim of SOS and the years-long wait for SZA's album.
The SOS Tour is SZA's second concert tour—following Ctrl the Tour which ended in 2018—and also her first arena tour. She was set to perform only in North America, with dates in 17 cities across Canada and the United States. Omar Apollo, who never toured in arenas before, was announced as the concerts' opening act. The first concert was on February 21, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio, and the last was on March 23, 2023, in Inglewood, California. One date in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scheduled for March 2, was postponed.
Three weeks after the second Inglewood show, SZA announced 30 more shows for the SOS Tour due to high demand. It included a new leg in Western Europe, with 10 dates in six countries. Pre-sales are on April 12, 2023, starting 10 am local time, and an on-sale is planned for April 14 if there are leftover tickets. British singer Raye performs as the opening act in nine of the dates. After touring Europe, SZA returns to North America for 21 concerts in the United States and another concert in Canada. The set of 21 US shows includes the postponed Philadelphia date. Pre-sales are on April 13 at 10 am local time, and tickets go on sale on April 14 at 12 pm local time.
Concert synopsis
The SOS Tour's concerts were around 90 minutes long. Every show featured prominent nautical visual elements, and critics divided one show into four or five acts based on the stage scenery. The setup included footage of waters, projected onto video screens, alongside several large props like a boat or anchor, reinforcing the tour's visual theme. Accompanying SZA was a three-person band that flanked the stage throughout the concerts. Four backup dancers were present to perform interpretative dances; at times they were dressed as sailors.