Tone Stith performs on stage at Rolling Stone x Meta Creator House at Clive Bar in Austin Texas, on March 18, 2022.Accompanied by two backup dancers and a four-piece backing band, Stith set the hook with slick choreography to his song “Like the First Time” from his 2021 album . Audiences rolled hips and swayed along to Stith’s smooth and breezy brand of R&B-pop. Special, intimate performances with rising stars like Stith access the magic that has defined SXSW for 35 years.
A few songs into the set, Stith took a seat on a stool center stage for a heartfelt rendition of “When You Love Someone” from . “We’ve been runnin’ away from communicatin’/ Baby, let’s face it/It’s just conversation now/ No more temptation/ No more misbehavin’,” Stith crooned, in a confessional moment that felt like an intimate conversation with the crowd.
Tone Stith performs on stage at Rolling Stone x Meta Creator House at Clive Bar in Austin Texas, on March 18, 2022.Later in the set, the New Jersey native explained that he lived in Houston for a time, during which he fell in love with the muse that inspired his song “Still Dancin’.” With Stith embracing one of his backup dancers, the choreography took on a narrative dimension that concluded with Stith down on a knee and the dancer’s leg wrapped around his head.
Stith has cited Michael Jackson as an inspiration, and the King of Pop’s influence can be felt in Stith’s crisp production and onstage choreo. But it was impossible to miss a subtle nod to Prince, especially when Stith slung an electric guitar around his neck for a shirtless rendition of his 2020 single “Devotion.” The song culminated in Stith’s melodic falsetto bending higher and higher, the final build-up before the set’s climactic conclusion.
Tone Stith performs on stage at Rolling Stone x Meta Creator House at Clive Bar in Austin Texas, on March 18, 2022.Stith finally delivered the high-energy ending he made the crowd wait for, as he let down his braids and performed his viral hit “FWM.” “Got the club goin’ up, they all f*** with me,” Stith boasts in the song’s lyrics, and he’s not wrong.