Oompa Celebrates New Album “Cleo” at The Sinclair

Just a day after its release, Oompa celebrated her latest album, Cleo, at The Sinclair. The Boston artist’s performance showcased a wide range of supporting acts, great production, and some special guests.

DJ Alcide kicked the show off as soon as doors opened, and helped to maintain the energy in the room between sets throughout the night. In addition to DJ Alcide, the night’s opening acts included Red Shaydez, Tef Poe, TiDES, Benji and Jefe Replay, who all put on their own uniquely great sets. Continuing this trend of distinct sets, Oompa’s performance felt almost like a theatre production, opening with clips from the movie Set it Off, and at one point, footage from an interview with Toni Morrison. Oompa was later joined on stage by a group choreographed dancers–––the first of many surprises she had in store for the crowd.

And while Oompa’s performance was powerful from beginning to end, there were several onstage moments that stood out from the rest. During “Cleo N ‘Nem,” Brandie Blaze joined Oompa on stage for a live feature, and later on, Anjimile and The Arcitype made guest appearances on the song “By You.” Other highlights included Oompa’s moving delivery of the track “Joy Back,” which she ended with a poem from Phree. Oompa concluded her set with “Thank You” and an encore performance of “Order My Steps.”

See below for photos from the show (in order: Oompa, Jefe Replay, Benji, TiDES, Tef Poe, and Red Shaydez):