Last Friday night at Berkeley’s Hearst Greek Theatre, Khalid didn’t just perform songs spanning his nearly decade-long career; he invited thousands of fans to revisit the version of themselves that first heard them.

Soulidified, a group that recently stepped in as the tour’s opener after intended opener Lauv dropped out, set the tone for the evening. Their nostalgic ’90s and 2000s boy band energy amply amped up the crowd, crescendoing in a 10-second countdown to Khalid’s arrival.

Dressed in a charcoal mechanic-style jumpsuit decorated with colorful patches and his tour title, “It’s Always Summer Somewhere,” stitched across the back, Khalid eased into “Motion.” The audience certainly had it, trading jumping for swaying, matching the song’s slower pulse.

Any divide established by the 15-foot distance between audience and singer was eliminated by Khalid’s constant dialogue with the audience. Between songs, each of his gestures to the crowd elicited another wave of screams. When one audience member shouted “I love you,” he answered without hesitation, “I love you too.”

After early crowd favorites “Eastside” and “8Teen,” the energy briefly softened. Kneeling at the lip of the stage, Khalid reflected on this final stop of the 25-date North American leg of his tour.

“You guys show up for me,” he told the audience. “It keeps me going.”

Then came the thesis of the evening — “I’m a man of many eras.”

He walked the audience through each chapter of his career, beginning with American Teen, and continuing through Suncity, Free Spirit and Sincere.

A feeling of coming of age seemed thick in the air the whole night. Later in the evening, two fans were invited on stage, one thanking Khalid for growing alongside her through every stage of adulthood.

“I’m 25 now, and I feel like we’re in this together,” she said.

The warm, communal feeling is one that’s hard to put into words but is what makes a ticket to “It’s Always Summer Somewhere” absolutely worth it. For two hours, a rare balance is struck — it feels like the people onstage are having just as much fun as those watching.

During “Outta My Head,” dancers rode scooters across the stage, almost running into Khalid as he juked them out midsong. Others played cup pong, drawing cheers every time the ball landed in a red Solo cup. Khalid eventually joined in himself, missing the shot entirely but earning an even louder ovation.

Khalid’s most personal moment arrived before “in plain sight,” reflecting on the freedom he has found in his newest chapter while wishing the audience a happy Pride Month.

“I feel so blessed to be able to just be me,” he said to the crowd. “I don’t have to perform. I don’t have to recreate. I don’t have to adjust. I don’t have to diminish.”

The nostalgic bangers might be what ultimately leads you to click “purchase” on these tickets, but the balance of polished production and raw, intimate moments is what you’ll remember. Khalid was not afraid to transfer audience attention away from himself and onto the talent he surrounds himself with. Halfway through the set, each dancer received their own featured moment with their name and hometown flashing in lights, eliciting arguably the largest cheers of the night.

Then came a more understated intro. “This is my guitarist, Jeff. Everyone say ‘hello, Jeff,’” Khalid said, almost as if the audience was previously familiar with the guitarist walking on stage. What followed was a laid-back acoustic medley of Simply Red’s “Holding Back The Years” and Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” that perfectly matched the casual introduction. It was a rare and refreshing example of an artist and musician sitting alone with the audience, flashing lights and dancing on a momentary pause.

As fans spilled out of the venue, the concert lingered. Cars wound through the Berkeley Hills, windows down, Khalid songs replacing the silence of the walk for those still marching home. After spending an evening reflecting on every era that brought him to this stage, the artist and audience seemed reluctant to leave this one behind.