Teddy Swims’ UGLY Tour Brings Powerful Vocals, Bigger Sets and a Roaring Brooklyn Crowd to Barclays Center

PHOTO: The UGLY Tour set transforms into a dark amusement park, complete with a giant skull centerpiece, during Teddy Swims’ Barclays Center performance. (Katherine Monday / The Pop-Litical Buzz)

Some concerts you attend, while others feel more like productions you experience. Teddy Swims’ UGLY Tour stop at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Oct. 2 was very much the latter.

The night kicked off with Long Island native Mac Ayres, who immediately established a warm, playful connection with the Brooklyn crowd. Sporting a New York Liberty jersey — a fitting nod to the City and a show of support for women’s sports — Ayres made a point of getting the audience involved in his set, turning several songs into genuine singalongs on his sixth and final night opening for Swims.

Ayres saved his biggest crowd moment for the end after performing a soulful cover of “I Want It That Way.” Introducing his final song, a currently unreleased track titled “Is There Any Room For Me Now,” Ayres joked that Swim would have the entire arena roaring when he performed “Lose Control,” so he wanted to get the crowd roaring himself first. Judging by the crowd’s volume — cheers bouncing off the wall inside the Barclays Center — the plan worked. 

Then came a very different kind of spectacle.

As the crowd waited for Swim, “Laffy Taffy” played over the speakers — a playful soundtrack building anticipation as the stage transformed for his set. While this happened, a video highlighting his R&B and Georgia roots played on the screens inside the stadium, setting the tone for what was to come and tying Swim’s Southern upbringing to the musical identity that has become such a defining part of his career.

When Swims finally emerged onstage, he opened with “The Door,” and the production immediately made it clear that this was going to be more than a standard arena concert.

The stage was transformed into a gritty, industrial construction site, complete with graffiti, welding effects and the sounds of construction machinery. The NYC-inspired block setting even evoked the feeling of a Hell’s Kitchen street set. The second song, “Hammer to the Heart,” arrived against this elaborate backdrop, with the production continually shifting around Swims rather than simply serving as decoration.

At one point, a hotel facade lit up during “Are You Even Real,” completely changing the visual atmosphere of the stage. Later, the production leaned into smoke, fire and dramatic lighting for “Little Black Dress” and a striking black-and-white visual sequence against a red backdrop for “Devil in a Dress.”

And then there was the janitor.

A seemingly ordinary man in a janitor’s uniform appeared onstage, cleaning and dancing his way around the set. Eventually, Swims revealed that the mystery janitor was Jose, giving him a shoutout and another memorable moment in a show already packed with surprises.

That playful spirit carried throughout the night. Swims described the elaborate set as “a piece of my home to your home,” and he delivered on that promise by incorporating pieces of both his Georgia roots and the New York environment surrounding him. At one point, a hot dog stand became part of the spectacle — with hot dogs actually being launched into the audience.

Following a video featuring Atlanta, the stage transformed once again, this time into something resembling a twisted amusement park, with a giant skull serving as its centerpiece. The changing environments helped give the concert a narrative quality, making each section feel like a new chapter rather than simply another batch of songs.

The music, of course, remained the star.

Swims worked songs from his new album into the set alongside fan favorites and a classic rock cover, including “All That Really Matters” and “Break Up in Reverse.” But for all the elaborate production, effects and visual spectacle, it was Swim’s voice that ultimately commanded the room. His ability to move from soulful restraint to full-throated power is impressive on record; hearing it fill an arena is something else entirely. His stage presence is equally undeniable — he can be funny and self-deprecating one moment, then completely magnetic the next.

He also made sure to acknowledge the people behind the music, giving a shoutout to his friend Marcus “MarcLo” Lumax, whom he said co-writes many of his songs.

Eventually, the night arrived at the song everyone had been waiting for. Swims closed the show with “Lose Control,” turning Barclays Center into exactly the roaring crowd Mac Ayres had promised earlier in the evening.

And because Swims apparently hadn’t provided the audience with enough spectacle already, he rode off the stage on a tricycle.

It was an appropriately unexpected ending to a concert that consistently refused to be predictable.

From Mac Ayres’ crowd-pleasing opening set to the construction-site stage, Atlanta references, hot dog stand, amusement-park transformation and Swim’s powerhouse vocals, the UGLY Tour stop in Brooklyn felt less like an arena show and more like stepping inside Swims’ world for a few hours.

The set may have been the production, but Swims was unquestionably the main event — and on Oct. 2, he proved that he has both the voice and the stage presence to make an arena feel very, very small.