Troye Sivan, for those of you who don't know him, is a 20-year-old YouTuber who is also a singer/songwriter. He has almost 4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel where he posts vlogs and covers, and he is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, as he is gay himself. Troye is currently touring for his debut album "Blue Neighbourhood," and this past week he had two concerts in Chicago at the House of Blues. I was blessed by the music gods to be able to attend with two friends of mine on Feb. 23, so here's how it went.
The audience in the venue was energetic and lively. People were singing along to the songs playing over the speakers before the concert had even started. While there were seats down below, we were up in the second balcony looking down on the stage. Since we had gotten there before other people, we had the ability to stand against the balcony more towards the center. It was a prime spot to clearly see the concert without feeling like there were too many people around you.
This was my first time seeing Troye, and he was better than I could have hoped. The show opened with flashing lights and immense energy from Troye as he sang his song "Bite." The lights that were used created the appropriate atmosphere for each song he sang, and I can honestly say that nothing he did was disappointing. He even asked if we liked his outfit, and mentioned how his father had basically been the one to dress him before the show. Talk about adorable!
Quite possibly my favorite song of his is "Heaven," a song he wrote about him trying to come to terms with being gay. He opened up a bit about the origins during the concert: "I wondered if I'd ever find love or if I'd ever be able to have a family or be able to play shows, and all these questions started cropping up and so I went back as a 19-year-old and wrote this song called Heaven." He followed with a hauntingly beautiful performance of the song that I will never forget.
One of Troye's first hits was "Happy Little Pill," something he has not forgotten as he's kept it in his performance even though it's not on the "Blue Neighbourhood" album. The version he played was more stripped down and acoustic than the original, which he said was because he wanted everyone to be able to relax and hang out for a bit. Although, I can't imagine how anyone would be able to relax when you're sharing the same air as Troye Sivan.
He ended the show with "Talk Me Down," only to come out for a two-song encore not even five minutes later. His performance of "Lost Boy" was by far my favorite of all of the songs he sang that night. Whether it was the content, Troye's gorgeous vocals, or the overall energy of the venue that made that so I'm not quite sure. He ended the concert with his song "Youth," a song about being young and how youth makes you fireproof.
Overall, the concert was absolutely amazing. My only real complaint is that "The Quiet" was noticeably missing from his setlist, but everything else more than made up for it. Seeing Troye was one of the best experiences of my life so far, and I will definitely be doing it again. Although if you ask me, the real highlight of the show was watching his father, Shaun Mellet, jam out like any proud parent would.
