Tori Kelly performs at the Independent in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2023. Roman Gokhman/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s been a few years since Tori Kelly’s been under a spotlight that wasn’t animated, but that didn’t stop several hundred fans from showing up early to see her perform on her intimate Take Control Tour stop at the Independent.

Kelly’s last traditional album was back in 2019, Inspired by True Events, though she did also release A Tori Kelly Christmas the following year. She also reprised her role as a sweet-voiced elephant in hit animated film “Sing 2,” but hasn’t toured since before the pandemic.

The Riverside County native and two-time Grammy winner with gold and platinum songs like “Hollow,” “Should’ve Been Us” and “Nobody Love” more recently signed to Epic Records and completed a new EP, simply titled tori, but just days before its July released, she collapsed during dinner and was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital for what turned out to be a life-threatening emergency of blood clots around her vital organs.

The 30-year-old singer-songwriter, who’s worked with the likes of Lecrae, Illenium, Jacob Collier, Jon Batiste and Justin Bieber, didn’t delay the album release or an already-scheduled tour. At the Independent, Tori Kelly only once mentioned the health scare, about midway through the hourlong set that seemed to breeze by much quicker.

Tori Kelly performs at the Independent in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2023.

“In this particular season, I’m happy to be back with you guys,” she said by way of introduction to soulful gospel tune “Never Alone.” “The thing that really got me through that time is knowing that God was with me.”

For this tune, her backing band—a drummer and keyboardist—left the stage, leaving her with just her white Stratocaster guitar that she gently strummed. Most of the performance was much more uptempo as Kelly had just enough time to perform a handful of new tunes and her biggest hits.

She followed the band onstage and opened with new single “cut” with a smooth and buttery delivery while walking the length of the small stage right over screaming fans, finishing the song with a snippet of Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name.”

Caribbean flavored “unbelievable,” another new one, followed with Kelly now at a mic stand. The song features Beninese Nigerian singer Ayra Starr, continuing her signature style that blends Afro-beat music into a mix of traditional pop, folk and soul. Kelly merengue-stepped in a circle before leading the crowd in a call and response on the chorus.

Tori Kelly performs at the Independent in San Francisco on Sept. 24, 2023.

Quickly working from one song to the other, the band continued onto older songs like banger “Should’ve Been Us,” which got one of the biggest singalongs of the night, and “Nobody Love,” after which Kelly paused and got a solid 45-second ovation.

“I missed touring; I missed everything,” she said.

“Missin u,” another new one, was performed as an “R&B edit” (also included on the EP). It had hip-hop-inflected verses and a sugary pop chorus, building throughout before Kelly started belting after the breakdown. The song continued right into her famous cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You,” for which she picked up her Strat and strummed along slowly.

Other highlights included the soulful and bouncy “Dear No One” and new song “Unbothered.” All the songs on the EP were cowritten with Clyde Lawrence and Jordan Cohen of the band Lawrence, and the jazzy undertones and syncopated drumming of the latter one had Lawrence’s fingerprints all over it. For new tune “shelter,” Tori Kelly wanted to prep the audience to sing along to the chorus, but the excited attendees instead showed her that they had the entire song memorized, leading to a flabbergasted look from the singer.

Fans were equally excited for older hit “Hollow,” during which Kelly danced around the stage before getting down on her knees, arching backward with her mic above her head in full rock star repose.

The encore break came quick—if there were any critiques to be had, it’s that this show felt too short, and there was also no opener—before the trio returned for two more songs from tori: “young gun” and “alive if i die.” The former, which features artist and producer Jon Bellion (who was heavily involved in making the record) began as a two-note electronic dirge and Kelly singing in her higher register alongside spacey synths and electronic percussion.

The latter was starkly different: an anthemic singalong. Then, without much fanfare, Kelly high-fived fans in the front row on her way off stage.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.