The Lucky Duck Tour - 8.23.26
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Featuring:
Michael Minelli and Anees
Photos by: Samantha Madnick
Words by: Rudy Flores
There are concerts you go to for the music, and then there are concerts you walk away from feeling like you just spent a couple of hours surrounded by a whole bunch of really good people. Sunday night at Moonshine Beach in San Diego, Anees brought the Lucky Duck Tour to town with Michael Minelli, and somehow managed to turn an entire venue into one giant ball of positivity. When we arrived, Anees was just wrapping up his VIP meet-and-greet, including a selfie from the stage with all of the VIP guests, and from there the night just kept getting better. This was an all-ages show, and the crowd was one of the most mixed groups I've seen at a concert in a long time. There were young kids who looked to be maybe 6 or 7 years old standing alongside teenagers, young adults and plenty of us older folks. And nobody seemed to care how old anybody else was. Everyone was just there to have a good time! Anees brought an absolutely ridiculous amount of energy to that stage, and it was impossible for that energy NOT to transfer to everyone in the building. The man was basically a human Red Bull.
Anees' music has always had an uplifting quality to it, but seeing him perform really drives home how much of his message is about love, self-worth, healing, freedom and simply being a better human being. He's Palestinian-Lebanese, and that background is an important part of his story and his perspective as an artist. His music can be playful and romantic one minute and deeply personal the next, and nowhere was that more apparent tonight than when he performed “Kiss My Wounds.” The song addresses the tragedies and suffering in Gaza and the horrors being experienced by Palestinians there, and when he started performing it, the entire crowd sang along with him. There was something incredibly powerful about watching an audience full of people from all different walks of life come together and give that song the respect and energy it deserved. Then he could turn around and have everybody laughing five minutes later. That's kind of the magic of Anees.
And then there are the songs that make you realize you're probably not the only person in the room who has been through some shit. When Anees performed “goodbye” from his HOMEsick album, pretty much everybody was singing along like we'd all collectively had that ONE person in our lives who was toxic, bad for us and needed to go. And honestly, “goodbye” may be the most polite way ever to tell somebody to get the hell out of your life. Even if they're only a LITTLE toxic. WHO NEEDS THEM?! My favorite lyric is from the third verse: “I don't even hate you, to be honest / I just love myself enough to leave you.” That's such a perfect Anees line because it's not really about revenge or hate—it's about realizing that sometimes loving yourself means walking away. Songs like “free me” and “sun and moon” carry that same spirit, and it's easy to understand how he built such a huge following after exploding on TikTok over the last few years. “sun and moon” in particular went from an open-verse/TikTok phenomenon into one of his biggest songs. Now he's out supporting Lucky Duck, his newest album, while bringing along music from throughout his catalog, including HOMEsick. And he even brought two people from the audience into the show: one got pulled up for a “Positivity” rap battle that was probably the most uplifting rap battle I've ever witnessed, and later a younger member of the crowd got to come up on stage and help him out with a chorus. There was absolutely no embarrassment or “gotcha” moment—Anees made sure both were part of the fun and looked like stars.
Of course, this IS the Lucky Duck Tour, so there had to be ducks. There was a giant inflatable rubber duck sitting on the stage, smaller Anees-branded ducks were available at the merch table, and yes—he actually tossed ducks into the crowd. But one of the coolest moments of the night was when Michael Minelli came back out to join Anees for their brand-new song “her love.” The single dropped August 21, just two days before tonight's show, so seeing the two of them perform it together while they're actually out on tour together felt like a pretty damn cool moment. Michael has been releasing music of his own as well, including his 2026 album Home Is No Place For A Riot and the single “All Mine,” while Anees' latest album is Lucky Duck. You can find Anees' music on Spotify and his official website, and Michael Minelli's music on Spotify.
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