Lil Uzi Vert performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — Lil Uzi Vert was keenly aware of their space during their performance at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Wednesday.

The Philadelphia rapper (who began using they/them pronouns last summer) used space to their advantage while performing on a stage made out to look like an elaborate diorama of competing aesthetics, with inner-city brick buildings sporting high rooftops with anime characters on the sides, a white van spray-painted with an anarchy symbol and other embellishments.

During their opening number, “Suicide Doors,” off new album Pink Tape, Uzi rapped atop one of the buildings and jumped from rooftop to rooftop to punctuate the high-energy moments of the song. No space was off limits, with Uzi eventually performing on the roof of the van later in the show.

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By deep cut “Buy It” and “XO TOUR LLIFE 3 (All My Friends Are Dead)” many in the room were screaming along to the lyrics while in the mosh pits attendees threw each other around. Lil Uzi Vert reciprocated the devotion.

Lil Uzi Vert performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2023.

“We got nominated for a Grammy,” they announced. “I appreciate all of y’all really stickin’ with me. Doing everything no matter what I do. Y’all never left.”

The production visuals were a mix of dystopian, near-apocalyptic backgrounds of ruined buildings exploding in blue light, smoking volcanos and anime compilations. Between songs, on-screen anime characters with day-glo hair taunted the rapper. Their childish, sing-song nursery rhymes became taunts of “Where are you, Uzi? We know you’re hiding.”

Ever the showman (and possibly using a body double), Uzi disappeared for a few seconds and then, faster than humanly possible, appeared in the stands at the back of the room.

“Let’s get it!” Uzi belted as people began swarming them with phone lights and bobbing their heads.

Lil Uzi Vert performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2023.

Eventually, Lil Uzi Vert returned to the stage, with the energy in the room still high.

“I don’t wanna leave yet,” they said, shrugging and turning to the DJ. “What else y’all got for me?”

That led into an assortment of deep cuts before Lil Uzi Vert ending with “Super Saiyan.”

Before the headliner, DJ PForReal, Uzi’s touring DJ, opened the show by spinning an assortment of remixes and hip-hop numbers. A remix of J. Cole’s “No Role Modelz” was a highlight, with its backing track changed to be more up-tempo and melodic—almost like a Lil Uzi Vert track.

As attendees filed out of Bill Graham Civic and into Civic Plaza, may of them removing their sweat-soaked shirts, they intermixed with suit-wearing APEC attendees milling around San Francisco City Hall after a busy day that saw several protests, a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and a fireworks extravaganza along the waterfront.

— Matthew Simons

Follow photographer Matt Pang at Twitter.com/mattpangs.