While Kendrick Lamar was off prepping for his show at TD Garden this evening (July 22), an impressive number of his fans turned out across the river, practicing a different kind of pre-gaming: Waiting in line.
Kendrick’s exclusive pop-up shop has been following him along his ongoing DAMN. tour of North America, selling city-specific tour merchandise, TDE Apparel, and other fashionable goodies in conjunction with each stop. Today’s edition brought an army of fans to Concepts in Harvard Square, wrapping an extensive line around the corner past Kaplan International English and onto Mount Auburn Street.
Concepts, a boutique retail shop, permitted in only five shoppers at a time. By 2 p.m., Concepts had only served roughly 300 people, with another 600 shoppers waiting outside, and more joining the tail end of the queue on a regular basis. Fans at the front of the line said they had been waiting four-and-a-half hours to get in, while other diehard Kendrick cult members arrived as early as 9 p.m. last night and camped out — a long wait, considering the store opened at 11 a.m. this morning.
Kendrick hadn’t made an appearance at Concepts while we were there, and it seemed unlikely that he would before the pop-up was set to close up at 7 p.m. But that didn’t seem to faze anyone waiting in line, as most were just eager to score some limited-edition gear. Plus, Kendrick’s voice was never far from anywhere, as many in line were bumping his tracks on their smartphones and devices as they waited.
Inside, the store was sparsely furnished, with a handful of each item on display. Fans could choose from a black short-sleeve T.D.E. tee ($35), a green DAMN. long-sleeve tee ($45), and a white DAMN. hoodie ($65). Black DAMN. short-sleeve tees with the Boston tour info on them fetched $40 each.
Red vinyl copies of DAMN. were also for sale. The two variations of Kendrick baseball caps, however, appeared to be sold out by midday, along with the CD copies of DAMN.
Below is a quick look inside Concepts, as well as some of the merch and the lines around the Square.
All photos by Victoria Wasylak for Vanyaland.
