Logic @ Petco Park – June 29, 2023

Logic brought his College Park Tour to San Diego on June 29 at Petco Park, and it was legendary! In fact, it was so legendary that it needed to be immortalized with a story written by me. The following is part two of what we’ll call “COLLEGE PARK ♡ MY HEART.” If you want full context before going forward, be sure to get caught up on part one first.

I consider the College Park era to be one of the best things to happen to me, and by the time this story concludes, I hope you’ll understand why! Have fun being my +1 at the show by reading below 💖

I.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned this week, it’s this: Concert goals can start long before you’re actually at the concert. My goal was to get a good night of sleep before seeing Logic, and miraculously, I was able to do that last night! You’re probably wondering what ended up happening to me and that motel reservation last night that got canceled by surprise as soon as I left YouTube Theater. For a good 30 minutes, I thought I was going to have to drive straight back to San Diego from LA. I was able to find a new motel not that far from my friend Daisy’s house, and the bed did my back wonders! 

Seriously, the last thing anyone wants is to have a stiff back and neck as they walk into one of their favorite artists’ concerts. It’s like self-care 101.

Anyways, I was able to make it back home safe and sound this morning! Time really flew by, and now I have a little bit of downtime before I head to Petco Park to see Logic. I have friends who have been in line outside the venue since early in the morning, and they’ve been giving me a play-by-play of everything they’ve seen or heard happening. I seriously cannot contain my excitement right now, but I also feel really nervous. Again, I just want things to go smoothly. San Diego is the second to last stop of the College Park Tour, and Logic hasn’t been to San Diego since 2019 for the Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind Tour. Honestly, Logic is one of those artists who you can see dozens of times, and you’ll still have as much fun at the show as you did your very first time. Last night was definitely proof of that, and tonight will also be! 

II.

It’s finally time for me to head downtown and hunt for parking near the venue. I open my screechy garage door and rest my camera on the passenger seat. Before I take my seat, I take a step out to my driveway to take a good breath of fresh air. I pull out my phone from my fanny pack and search for a guided breathing exercise gif to help me calm down. I inhale for four seconds, hold my breath for six seconds, then let out a deep whoosh of air lasting eight seconds. I then walk back to start my car, and begin to play Logic’s Everybody album as I pull out of the garage and begin to drive downtown.

After sitting in an empty parking garage for a few minutes to do my makeup, I start to walk to Petco Park. I can hear music and cheers in the distance. It must be Logic doing soundcheck! This makes me walk even faster towards the venue, but I make sure to have enough restraint to not run. If I run at all, there’s an 80% chance I’ll trip, and my night will end right then and there. 

As soon as I arrive on the west side of Petco Park, I see a very long line of fans decked out in Logic merch, eagerly waiting for the gates to open at 6. I message my friend Daisy to see where exactly she’s at. Daisy (not the one from yesterday… A different one haha) has been at the venue since the morning. As I wait for her response, I walk to the box office to pick up my ticket. 

Suddenly, I get a DM from Daisy letting me know she’s across the street. I wait for her on the sidewalk closest to the venue, and then see her walking towards me. We give one another a huge hug, and I turn on my camera to take a few pictures of her in front of the crowds. 

“This is going to be the best night of your life,” I tell Daisy as my camera’s shutter clicks.

“I’m so excited… and I’m so excited for you, too!” Daisy says.

Honestly, I wanted to make sure my SD card and everything else on my camera was working properly. Imagine if it hadn’t been? That would’ve been a true American horror story. We then part ways, and I walk south towards Lolita’s to get some carne asada fries for dinner. 

Meal of champions, for sure.

III. 

Just a few more minutes until showtime! As I get walked inside the venue, I can’t help but jump up and down and skip from excitement. Everything is going to be just fine from here on out, and I can truly feel it. Why? I’m in my happy place now. I’m about to stand side by side with thousands of people who, just like me, have their own stories on how Logic has helped them get through tough times. All that anxiety I was feeling earlier? It wasn’t in vain. It’s totally normal to feel nervous or anxious before going to a space you’ve really been looking forward to. But once you’re there, it just feels like everything happened for a reason. The universe made you feel low only to bring you back up to a brand new height.

The other photographers and I enter the barricade in front of the stage, and I hear someone shout “CHELSEAAA” from the crowd. I turn my head as I keep walking forward, but can’t find the person who yelled my name. Oh well. I shrug and continue to walk towards a starting spot in the photo pit. 

Tonight’s show is being held at Gallagher Square, a small park attached to Petco Park. Tucked in between a few tall buildings, Gallagher Square hosts a variety of concerts throughout the year. Many residents in the apartments that surround Gallagher Square will often stand outside of their balconies and enjoy their free concert, and fans who are physically inside the park will sometimes turn around to cheer for these onlookers as they dance or wave lights around. Sure enough, I’m able to see a few people on their balconies getting ready for the show.

Right at 7PM, T Man The Wizard runs on stage wearing a Junior Seau jersey and welcomes the crowd to the College Park Tour. His wildly energetic introduction sends the crowd into a frenzy, and gets everyone warmed up for the first opening act, Travis Stacey.

T Man The Wizard

Almost instantly, Stacey notices how cool the layout of the venue is. Fans are awaiting his performance on a grassy slope, as well as building balconies. He jokes that his performance might cause a couple to get turned off and break up, but in reality, everyone seems to be nodding their heads along to his indie-rock melodies!

I just can’t help but think… his mother must be so proud of him. Keep making your mom proud, Stacey!

Travis Stacey

A few moments later, C Dot Castro makes his way on stage, being greeted by roaring cheers. 

“Does anybody know what my name is?” He asks the crowd. 

“C DOT CASTRO!” Everyone yells. My voice sounds like a frog due to dehydration, but I still manage to say his name loudly as well.

“That’s sexy, the way y’all are saying it,” he compliments us. “Yo, it’s the motherf*cking College Park Tour man. Who’s been a motherf*cking day one member of the Rattpack?!”

The crowd cheers once again, and I begin to feel like a champion for being a part of such a great community… no… family, like the Rattpack. 

Castro continues to engage with the crowd for a bit, and creates a steamy environment with his scorching hot rhymes. To celebrate 50 years of hip-hop, he performs a freestyle that pays homage to the pioneers of the game. He also performs a cover of Logic’s “Ballin’” that takes the energy levels in the park from 10,000 to a million. 

C Dot Castro

Next up is Juicy J, who is sporting his mask and ready to take the crowd on a journey through a dozen hits in a limited time slot. In between performing Three 6 Mafia classics such as “Poppin’ My Collar,” “Stay Fly,” and “Slob On My Knob,” he sings to the crowd as a chant, “PUT YOUR IPHONES UP, LIGHT YOUR WEEEEED UP!” He also takes a moment to ask everyone what they’re smoking, and if anyone has any local strip club recommendations for after the show. A variety of responses come from the crowd, but it seems like Juicy is already familiar with the infamous Hong Kong club in Tijuana. I look around with a face of confusion, and say “Tijuana isn’t San Diego!” But hey – his effort deserves an applause. It shows that he’s in tune with the locale.

Juicy J

IV.

Moments after Juicy J walks off stage, Logic’s DJ Rhetorik walks up and gets ready to hit the replay button on the vibes. My heart is racing. 

“Has anybody been to a Logic show before? Make some noise,” Rhetorik says. I begin to clap as if I had a paste on my hands that I was trying to remove. The clapping is PASSIONATE. 

“Let me introduce myself, my name is Rhetorik. I’ve been with Logic forever. Has anybody heard the song ‘44 Bars’?” Rhetorik asks, and is immediately met with cheers. 

“We were factually talking about life and sh*t in London, late night,” he continues. He then leads the crowd into a roaring rendition of “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar, which transitions into an even rowdier rendition of Logic’s “Mama/Show Love.” The enthusiasm grows and grows with each song, and then he starts to play Logic’s Mr. Rogers Neighborhood introduction. 

All of a sudden, I feel as though I’m ascending. Logic walks down the stairs of his set, waves to the crowd, and removes his robe to reveal himself wearing a custom Padres jersey that says Logic 301 on the back. 

“Bobby Boy! Bobby Boy!” The crowd chants. 

“What the f*ck is up!” Logic says. “I’m so happy to be here. I go by the name Logic, and I represent peace, love, and positivity!” 

The crowd yelling the word positivity in unison makes my heart feel so satisfied. “I’m so excited to take you all on this journey here tonight,” he says. “Before we get started, I just got one thing I wanna say. If there’s anybody out there sleeping on me, y’all better wake the f*ck up.” 

Everyone begins to yell the lyrics to “Wake Up” so loud, I’d honestly be surprised if the surrounding buildings weren’t shaking. The energy and enthusiasm visibly makes Logic happy.

“I’m so happy to be here tonight man,” he goes on to say. “It’s an honor and a privilege, and I mean it. This is my dream. Ever since I was a little boy, I used to hold up the remote control to my TV and look in the mirror and pretend to see what I’m looking at right now – thousands of adoring fans who are a part of my family.” 

I begin to feel like that one happy emoji with the big watery eyes. Every person here tonight is a part of what Logic manifested. It takes hundreds of people to power a venue, from the box office staff to the front of house folks making sure everything sounds good. The security guards keeping all of us safe, the people working in hospitality keeping everyone’s thirst quenched, the production assistants, the housekeeping crew, the list goes on and on. And of course, the thousands of loving fans in the crowd who have a strong emotional bond with the music Logic has released over the years. Every single last one of us helped make his dream come true tonight, and we’re going to continue to do it because we believe in him. 

“Lightsabers” comes up next, and the crowd is even louder as they sing along. Castro jumps on stage again for his verse, and Logic hypes him up with a very sassy “yas!” and “yas queen!” as ad-libs.

Logic 💖

As the night goes on, Logic is indeed taking the crowd on a journey through his career in chronological order. While performing “I Am The Greatest,” he twirls around with a special Bobby Boy doll given to him by a fan. He stops to find the fan who gave him the doll, and asks the crew to turn the stage lights on so he can see better.

All of a sudden, he spots her.

“What’s up girl?” He asks. “What’s your name?”

The girl apparently says her name is Carmen.

“Carmen? Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” He says.

“Did you make that?” He immediately turns to Rhetorik. “Don’t give me the low bass drop like that wasn’t a funny joke. Alright? I’ve got dad jokes. This is not a dad bod, this is a father figure.”

Rhetorik immediately follows up with, “This sounds like a shirt you get at the gas station.”

“Yeah, f**k you,” Logic says. “Just kidding, I love you.”

He turns back to Carmen and stands in awe.

“You’re not mad that I stole it right?” He asks. “I’m going to give it to my little boy. I appreciate that.”

The crowd lets out one collective awww. Then Logic immediately spots a drunk man in the crowd flipping women off.

“Yeah, this guy’s wasted,” Logic says. “He’s gotta go. Figure it out. Boo this man!”

The crowd boos until the man is removed from the show, and Rhetorik begins to play “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC.

Never did I ever think I’d be singing a song from one of my favorite boy bands at a Logic concert… but here we are! Logic couldn’t contain his laughter and walked to the other side of the stage.

“If you ever hear that at a rap show again, they copied us,” says Rhetorik.

“Alright everybody, you’d better be on your best motherf*cking behavior,” Logic warns. “You know why? Because we have women and children in this crowd, and if you’re a drunk piece of sh*t, you’ll be kicked out. Watch yourself, alright?”

Oh, WE LOVE A KING. WE STAN. YASSS.

“Now back to Carmen Sandiego!” Logic says in a sassy voice. “How long did it take you to make that beautiful piece of art? Two weeks? Did you say just two weeks? Girl that’s a long time. Thank you!”

He proceeds to tell her that she’ll be getting every piece of merch at the end of the show, and we all cheer because we love creative people like Carmen!

There is one slight issue however, and it’s the hard 10PM noise curfew that is now looming. Logic lets the crowd know that he has a limited amount of time, potentially due to someone’s “grandma” sleeping nearby. He asks the crowd to go crazier than ever to wake grandma up! I start going crazy like that one gif of Oprah on that episode of her show where she was giving away cars to the entire audience. My hair and hips are swinging from side to side, meanwhile Logic and his crew begin to throw out Bobby Boy Records hats into the crowd.

V.

Even when your body has had enough, nothing can really prepare you for the last song at a show. There’s no denying it’s a bittersweet moment. You had the absolute time of your life, and you’re so thankful for the experience that you had today, but you’re just not ready to say goodbye! The emotions are all hitting at the same time right now as Logic begins to perform “City of Stars.” There’s something so special about hearing this song at an open air venue in the smack dab middle of the city. Everyone’s cell phone lights go up, and it creates a magical effect that will be rather hard to recreate. The show is now coming to an end, and Logic is expressing his gratitude to the crowd.

“Thank you so much for an incredible tour,” he says. “San Diego, I love you! I appreciate you! I want you to do me a favor. Every single person in this crowd, do me a favor. Keep being good people. Be kind to one another. Be nice. Be a good f*cking person.”

I scream “YEAAAAHHH!” one last time.

He says his final goodbye: “My name is Logic, and I represent peace, love, and positivity.”

The stage lights go dark, and just like that, it’s over.

The lights turn back on, and I stand around the stage for a few minutes to locate friends I had met last night and at previous shows. I just needed to take it all in one last time. While Logic probably has tons of projects up his sleeve that none of us are aware of just yet, College Park was so special. It’s a project that stands for growth and striving for the absolute best at all costs. All I can hope for now is the next time I see Logic on tour, him, everyone I got to meet and interact with at these shows, and even I, can all look back upon our growth since these unforgettable days in June 2023.

Until next time, let’s live in peace, love, and positivity.