Following the release of his new single “I Saw Your Face”, rising indie rock and R&B musician Malcolm Todd has continued to perform spring concerts at various universities across the eastern states. His most recent appearance was at the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Inspired by other alternative R&B artists like Steve Lacy and Rex Orange County, Todd started making music during the peak of COVID-19 (2020-2021) and has continued making music ever since. With the launch of his whimsical album “Sweet Boy” in early 2024, Todd gained hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify and other music streaming apps. Though it wasn’t until December of 2024, when his popular single “Chest Pain” was released and blew up on the TikTok app, that his platform and reputation skyrocketed.
In a YouTube video from the official TikTok channel on Todd’s “Breakthrough,” he shared that: “When I was posting on TikTok, it was just a collection of all the songs I had made. I kept getting a little more attraction on each thing, which led to a breakout moment for me with a song called ‘Chest Pain’.” He added, “I think it’s super exciting to see your music spread. Getting signed and going on my first ever tour, it’s the dream, I mean, for any musician.”
Prior to coming to UMASS Amherst, Todd had performed at other schools, includingPenn State, Northeastern, and Seton Hall University. Before Todd took the stage, popular rapper Waka Flacka Flame set the vibes at Mullins Center with great energy. Students in the pit and at seats from all directions danced and rapped along the loudest to Flacka’s old hits like “No Hands” and “Grove St. Party”.
A brief intermission took place after Flacka opened, with the audience waiting for Todd to come out. It wasn’t until 9:30 PM that he hopped onto the stage, performing his first song, “Earrings” from his hit album Sweet Boy. The crowd ignited with excitement as pink lights shone across the entire venue.
In addition to the Sweet Boy album, he performed popular songs from his second album, Malcolm Todd, like “Concrete”, “Walk to Class”, and “Bleed”. Some of his first singles were featured as well, such as “Hesitating” and “Starstudded”. The atmosphere was lively as loud cheers filled the arena, with old and new fans singing along with Todd, word for word.
Junior Mia Cano from North High in Worcester expressed how “it was really fun and everybody at UMass had so much energy. There were super positive vibes all around.”
Junior Cathen Fontanilla from Malden High School agreed, sharing how “the concert was really fun overall, it was nice hearing the songs I listen to daily, live.”
In between the first few songs he performed, Todd gave brief moments to talk to the students at UMass Amherst, where he hyped up the crowd and praised the school. As the night progressed and Todd sang more songs, the audience only got more ecstatic. As it was the main spring concert for Amherst this year, students were able to let loose and forget the stress of academics for a night.
Todd surprised fans with the performance of his newest singles, “I Saw Your Face” and “Breathe”, songs that had not been performed yet anywhere else. Fans were quick to sing along, despite being released recently.
Senior Miguel Leiva Doherty from Memorial High shared how his favorite song performed was “‘I Saw Your Face”, because he “didn’t think he was going to play it, and we were the first crowd to hear it,” commenting that overall, the concert was “energetic, captivating, and exciting.”
Close to 11:00 pm and the end of the night, Todd wrapped up the concert with a performance of “Leave It All To Me”, the upbeat theme song of the 2000s Nickelodeon show iCarly. Hit with a sense of nostalgia, the audience erupted in song unanimously. Todd ended the show with the energetic song and smash hit “Roommates”, which had high-spirited fans lighting up the venue with the flashlights of their phones, waving their arms side to side. Everybody was jumping along to the drums and beats of the song, with the roaring arena practically shaking. The final performance left fans wanting more songs and a night they won’t forget.
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