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Connor Price & Nic D Opened the Iconic Tour in Royal Oak, and the Room Knew Every Word
- LJ Portnoy
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Connor Price & Nic D opened their Iconic Tour at a sold-out Royal Oak Music Theatre, joined by opener GRAHAM, a live "Scoop" TikTok, and a room of first-timers who knew every word. A SoundCheck Mag concert review.
Article Contributed by LJ Portnoy & Mark Portnoy. Photography by LJ Portnoy.
A Sold-Out Crowd Arrived Early and Loud
The Iconic Tour started in Royal Oak, and from the first beat the whole room was singing along. Connor Price and Nic D sold out the Royal Oak Music Theatre two weeks before they ever set foot on its stage, and on opening night the floor was packed with fans who knew every lyric before the lights went down. For plenty of them, this was a first concert, and you could feel that in the air.
By the time the opener hit, the room had already arrived loud. Strangers in line were trading names and starting chants. This was a crowd that did not need to be warmed up so much as pointed at the stage.
GRAHAM Opened the Iconic Tour and Warmed a Room That Didn't Need It
The night opened with GRAHAM, the producer behind a long list of Connor Price tracks and a real artist in his own right. He had wrapped his own headlining run barely a day earlier and turned right around to launch this one, which is a lot of road for one weekend. His pop-rap set landed easily with a crowd that, frankly, was ready hours before doors.
If you know Connor's catalog, you already know GRAHAM, even if the name never registered. He produced a huge chunk of it, and Connor's remix of GRAHAM's "HOV" became GRAHAM's first entry on the Billboard charts.
He has put out well over a hundred songs since 2022 without ever settling into a single genre. That range finally got its fullest statement this past January on his debut album, MOODSWINGS, fifteen tracks that move between sounds without ever losing the plot. Pull up "Not My Problem" or "Perfect Timing" if you want a way in. Something was fitting about watching him open the very tour whose sound he helped build, then step behind the decks to run the headline set. A lot of this night ran through one guy, and he earned every second of that stage.
Nic D's First Headline Tour Begins With a Plead
When Connor and Nic took the stage, they opened with a video: Connor working to convince Nic to leave home, his family, and everything else behind to tour at all. It was funny, and it was also the literal backstory. This is Nic D's first headline tour, and by his own account he never planned to do one.
Connor Price and Nic D's Onstage Chemistry Is the Whole Show
Which is what made the rest of the night so impressive. From the first song, Nic carried himself like someone who had been doing this for years. He and Connor barely stopped moving, bouncing across the stage with enough presence to fill a room twice this size, and the energy never once dipped. For a debut run, opening night included, it was remarkably assured. The chemistry between the two of them is the actual product here. They hype each other, trade verses, and clearly love being up there together.
The Night's Best Moments: "Buddy," Signed Paperboys Vinyl, and a Live "Scoop"
They never let the audience out of their sight. At one point they pulled an eleven-year-old up to sing "Buddy," Connor's collaboration with Hoodie Allen, and the kid delivered. A locker on stage held copies of their vinyl, and they handed signed records into the front row, including to a nine-year-old who is not going to forget it. Those records were Paperboys, the joint album the two of them would not officially release until a month after this show, which made an early signed copy a real prize.
For "Scoop," the track they turned into a viral ping-pong bit after Marty Supreme, they filmed a TikTok live mid-song, keeping a paddle rally going while rapping with the whole crowd behind them. It is a clever hook on a feed. It is even better in a room.
A screen behind them ran music videos and lyrics all night, doubling as a singalong prompt for a crowd that did not need one. GRAHAM handled the musicality from a DJ setup for the headline set. The lighting did the heaviest visual lifting, gorgeous washes of purple, red, and blue that I was very grateful for from the photo pit.
The Cleanest Set in Rap: Why Connor Price and Nic D Connect With All Ages
Here is the thing I could not unhear once it got pointed out to me: they do not curse. Not once, across a full set of rap. It is the cleanest version of this sound, Jack Harlow energy with the edges sanded down for a younger crowd and the parents standing behind them. That is not a knock. It is the entire point. Connor Price and Nic D have made something a kid can love out loud and a parent can stand in the back of without flinching, and a sold-out room of first-timers in Royal Oak proved there is a real, hungry audience for exactly that.
We had a great time. So did a roomful of first-timers, and they will remember this one for a lifetime.
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