The End of the Monica Tour: Jack Harlow in San Diego
Photos and write-up: Meredith Snyder | Gallagher Square at Petco Park, September 17, 2026
Jack Harlow took the stage at Gallagher Square Park in downtown San Diego last month for the third-to-last show of the US leg of his Monica Tour. Monica, his fourth studio album, was released earlier this year in a pivot into music with more R&B and soulful influences – a genre he describes as neo soul. While the sonic change may have been a surprise to many, there was no lapse in his authenticity or talent in the process. Prior to Jack Harlow taking the stage, there were two openers. The first was Clockwork DJ, who DJ’d a quick set that the crowd loved, focused primarily on classic R&B songs. James Savage took the stage next, a young R&B artist from Louisville. He performed songs from his new album Pine, as well as a couple singles.
His show was fantastic with a long setlist, combining both his rap songs and his neo soul songs into one cohesive performance. He started with songs from Monica, and included songs from Come Home The Kids Miss You, That’s What They All Say, and Jackman. When he performed Move Along, the fifth track on Monica, he brought out James Savage, who is featured on the track, to perform alongside him. Towards the end of the set he performed some singles, features, and a couple songs from Confetti and Loose, covering a lot of his eras in a short time frame. The only mixtapes that did not have a song on the setlist were 18 and Gazebo, his two oldest projects. The exclusion of songs from those projects on a nationwide tour is not surprising as they are his least popular projects, though Gazebo is maybe my favorite mixtape of all time. As a listener born and raised in his hometown, Louisville, I found great joy in hearing deep cuts from his mixtape days. Some of the songs he performed like Sundown and Warsaw I remember blasting in my earbuds all day every day leading up to the Mission Tour (2019) show in Louisville. Hearing them live again so many years later hit a nostalgic note.
To me, what set this tour apart from his other tours was the live band. On his Come Home The Kids Miss You Tour (2022) he had a small band on stage, but they were not part of the visuals or performance for the most part. In contrast, the musicians he shared the stage with on the Monica Tour were incredibly important to the visual and sonic experience to the audience, contributing to much of the performance. There is something so neat about watching an artist go from one mic in a small hometown concert hall, to commanding a group of musicians alongside him on tour. Having a live band perform with a solo artist elevates the concert experience in a million ways, and Jack Harlow hit the nail on the head.
The Monica Tour not only brought Jack Harlow’s new music to life while honoring some deep cuts, it brought visibility to a second Louisville artist: the talented James Savage. The show took listeners on a trip through old and new music, keeping in touch with fans from every era through the setlist choices. The show itself remained an immersive experience thanks to the band and back-up vocalists. This tour was a milestone in Jack Harlow’s evolution as an artist, leaving listeners excited for what is to come.
