Omar Rudberg’s first LA concert was a Fantasy

Written by: Lily Nopp

Via @officialomar/@jjoelwetzel on IG

Anyone walking by the El Ray theater on November 4th knew that whoever was performing was a big deal. Over an hour before the doors opened and the line was wrapped way around the corner. The entire line was gushing about how excited they are to see Omar Rudberg perform his first ever concert in Los Angeles. The inside of the theater was a perfect match to the vibe of the show with the red siding and massive chandeliers that drew everyone’s attention. The show’s openers, Pebbles&TamTam went on a little after 8:00 PM and the duo hyped the crowd up with their set consisting of their original songs that stay in your head on repeat like “CARDIAC” and iconic covers like “Fergalicious.”

At 9:00 the lights dimmed and Rudberg opened his show with “Bye Bye”, a release from earlier this year. With support from dancers Adnan Sahuric and Daniel Gürow as well as live music with Joey Farber on bass guitar and Simon Santunione on drums, the performance left the audience captivated. The setlist included his mashup of “Yo Dije OUFF” and Cardi B’s “I Like It” that went viral on Tiktok over the summer as well as songs from his new EP Every Night Fantasy like “Girlfriend”. He closed the show with one of his biggest hits- “Mi Casa Su Casa” and recent release “Sabotage”. Watching Omar Rudberg on stage gives the impression that he was born to perform. With unfaltering vocals despite the intense choreography paired with unquestionable stage presence, it quickly became clear to me why so many people in the audience crossed the country to attend this show after seeing his New York show the previous week.

All of the fan projects revealed just how much the fans were looking forward to this show and left Rudberg emotional over all the love from the audience. One of the projects had fans hold up red lights (that were passed out to the fans in line prior to the show) during his song “Red Lights.” Others had fans hold up signs saying “Eres Nuestro Angel” (You’re Our Angel) and paper hearts during “Simon’s Song” from the Netflix show Young Royals where Rudberg played a lead character.    

It was an absolutely incredible show and I highly recommend seeing Omar Rudberg in concert if you are given the chance. He is mesmerizing on stage and knows how to put on a performance rather than just a show.