Free Nationals Shine Eternal Light on Tour with Giveon
- Jared Jones
- Oct 18, 2025
- 3 min read
October 16, 2025 at Smart Financial Centre, I pulled up early on purpose. The last time I was there for Jill Scott, I missed half the show just trying to get into the parking lot. The venue is great once you’re inside, but getting there can be a mess, so this time I wasn’t taking any chances.
Earlier that day, I had been in communication with the Free Nationals’ manager, just letting him know I was around and down to shoot some behind-the-scenes if needed. Nothing too official. He told me to stay front of house and keep it simple.
But leading up to all of that, I had reached out to India Shawn. She’s one of my favorite artists, and Before We Go Deeper is one of my favorite projects. D'Mile really did something special on that album. Their collaboration just works. So I hit her up and told her it would be dope to shoot the show. She was open, but also real about it. It’s not her show, she’s there with Free Nationals. Still, she connected me, and that was enough. I told her I’d take care of her with photos when I saw her.
So I’m at the venue early, just moving around, when I run into the audio guy. I tell him I’m shooting with the team, and he asks if I want to go backstage. I had already been told to stay out front, but I took the opportunity since it was right there. Next thing I know, I’m backstage, just in the room.
I’m talking, observing, trying to get a feel for everything. Outside of Anderson .Paak, I don’t really know the band like that, and he wasn’t even on this run. T. Nava wasn’t there either. It was really Kelsey Gonzalez and Jose Rios holding it down, plus a few guys filling in.
At one point, I’m walking with Kelsey, not knowing it’s him. He asks if I want to grab some food, and I’m like yeah. So we’re walking, just talking casually, and I straight up ask him, “So what do you do?” He pauses for a second and goes, “I’m part of the band.” And I’m just like… yeah, that’s on me. But he was cool about it. No weird energy. Everybody was just grounded.
We start talking about Long Beach, how the Free Nationals are from there, and how Giveon is from there too. This whole thing is his Beloved tour. They were saying how back in the day he was kind of around their shows, and now they’re opening for him. Just one of those full-circle things.
At some point, Giveon pulls up to the green room. No big entrance, just slides in. I meet India in person around then, and she’s exactly how you’d expect. Super kind, just a light when she walks in. Giveon is cool too. You can tell he’s confident in where he is right now.
I shoot the show, just moving through it naturally, and afterward we’re back in the green room. Sasha Keable is there too. It turns into a loose hang since it’s the last stop where Free Nationals and Sasha are opening on that run.
What really stood out about the night wasn’t just being backstage or shooting the show. It was the tone of the conversations. Everything kept coming back to D'Angelo.
He had passed just days before, and there was a real sense of responsibility to honor him. Everybody in that room, as musicians, was influenced by him and Voodoo. You could feel it. There were quieter
moments, more reflective ones.
Some of the band members had picked up his vinyl earlier that day, and it was just there in the room, getting passed around. Nobody made a big deal about it. It just sat there as a reminder.
When they went out to play, you could feel that energy carry into the set. When they got into “Eternal Light,” it hit different. It’s already one of Free Nationals’ biggest songs, but in that moment it felt like more than that. It felt like a tribute without needing to say it out loud.
It ended up being a great night. Not just because I got to shoot or be in the room, but because I got to see artists really pay homage in a real way and meet one of my favorite artist, India Shawn. Nothing forced. Just letting the music carry it.
View the full gallery of photos from the night, here.
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