Hearthrob rock/popstar Benson Boone brought his “Fireworks and Rollerblades” tour to Phoenix on April 29th. Celebrating his new album, the show may be one of the best I have ever seen at Arizona Financial Theater. It was a bittersweet time, meaning now I can’t listen to his music on Spotify because it sounds better live! Which is the entire purpose of concerts, in my opinion.
Adorned in denim jeans, a matching denim vest and the cutest pink nails, Boone walked across the dark stage, sitting down at the piano under a single blue spotlight. The erupting crowd went silent as he sat. His fingers drifted across the keys, playing the opening to “Intro”, before bursting out of his seat as the song picked up. Seamlessly, he transitioned into “Be Someone”.
During “Cry”, Arizona Financial experienced what seemed like a power outage. The instruments went silent and the stage fell dark. After a few seconds, a few fans recognized what was happening and began to cheer. Mimicking the pause in the recorded track, the drums hit and the lights flashed. The crowd responded louder than they had all night. It was an incredible way to keep the vision of the song and adapt it in an exciting way for the performance.
It’s clear Boone is deeply in touch with his emotions. I mean, most artists have to be. But Boone expresses a level of vulnerability that makes each song feel more personal. “Hello Love” is a beautiful ballad about trying to love someone but feeling like your mental health is too much to deal with. Before the song, Boone addressed the crowd, telling them what the song means to him and saying “I hope you understand these lyrics and I hope you relate to them in your own way.” Throughout the song, however, Benson made sure to keep the energy lighthearted. At one point he played an air violin and then tossed it over his shoulder to start singing agin.
Other notable moments of the show include when grabbing a pink cowboy hat from a fan, putting it on, and then asking if he had a big head or if the hat was just small. During “Forever and a Day”, he taught the audience a melody to sing and then proceeded to use their singing as his background vocals. This was a really beautiful moment, making the audience apart of the music.
For “In The Stars”, he addressed the audience a bit more seriously. He gave the background of the song and then asked the audience to keep their phones away for the first two choruses. There was a bit of begging in his voice and it was special to see the audience obliged, everyone remaining present for the song.
One fan was holding up a sign asking to play rock, paper, scissors with him. He was talking about his fears, in regards to “My Greatest Fear”, and in seeing the sign decided to tell the crowd he had a fear of losing. However, he then proceeded to lose to the fan after a couple of rounds. To brush off the pain of the public loss, he did what every Gen-Zer does: he put on a british accent.
Not only is Benson Boone genuinely talented- no seriously, insane vocals and his vocal control even after doing a back flip (he did FOUR) was insane. But he is hilarious and very obviously loves performing. His show was exciting and engaging and simply fun. The audience had an amazing time, but not as much fun as he seemed to have. I’m extremely grateful I got to see this incredible show.
Check out the gallery down below!
