36 minutes. That’s the time it takes to listen to the “Conan’s Complete Collection” playlist on Spotify. Conan Gray’s discography may be in a nascent state, but that certainly didn’t stop the fast-rising pop star from packing in the cavernous Terminal 5. With no heed to NYC experiencing the first freezing cold snap of late fall, fans lined up all the way down 56th Street (even turning onto 12th Avenue) to enter the venue. But once inside, the audience basked in the glow of opener UMI and Gray. Here are five things that stood out from the show:
UMI Sets the Mood
UMI helped warm the crowd up with a jubilant set. She put her soulful spin on Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On”, and also impressed with original tracks like “Breathe” and “High School”. On the former, the singer brought her voice down to a hushed whisper at the coda over a gentle guitar riff; on the latter, her voice soared to loud cheers from the audience.
Opening 1-2-3 Punch
When Gray emerged onstage, the crowd was his immediately. With a sly grin, he launched into the swaggering opener “The King”. The vocalist then took control of the room with his electric energy, as he bounded from stage left to right while jumping, spinning and high-kicking. For the next track “Generation Why”, Gray headed toward the back platform of the stage, where the backing band was situated, and completely reclined as he sang. As he turned his alluring gaze to the audience you could hear the sound of hundreds of teen hearts melting (well, at least their fervent shrieks). Then, Gray dialed things back with the low-key “Comfort Crowd”. This slower jam (along with other sparser tracks like “Lookalike” and “I Know a Place”) helped showcase the delicate side of his voice.
A Sneak Preview
Toward the end of the set, Gray gave the crowd a taste of his forthcoming debut studio album with a track called “The Story”. As his backing band departed the stage, only the singer remained with his guitar. He explained that he wrote the song about his “whole entire life,” including how moving around a bunch as a kid was tough. “I just didn’t really think I was gonna make it past 12 or 13,” he said. “I think in the friend group, I’m the ‘damaged friend.’” With a rapt audience looking on, Gray picked through the aching, wistful track, which veered into heartland rock territory with sheer earnestness and jangly riffs.
The Crowd
From the get-go, the crowd went absolutely wild for Gray, screaming along to the lines and cheering every note, twirl and kick. The singer’s charisma was also on full display throughout the set in moments big and small. After “The Story”, a fan handed a handwritten note (which read in part, “We love you and are proud of you”) to Gray from the barricade. For “Idle Town”, the singer explained that “it is tradition that I wear a cowboy hat,” before borrowing a bejeweled, light-up pink cowboy hat from the crowd. At the end of the track, he also jumped off the stage and headed to the barricade for a quick selfie with the front-row fans.
No Encore Needed
The audience was so engrossed that any pretense of exiting the stage and returning for an encore was unnecessary. (And by the end of the performance, Gray had played pretty much all of his music.) So the singer pushed through the roughly hour-long set with a dynamite final combination of his hits “Maniac” and “Crush Culture”. On the former, a sea of jumping fans bounced along to the track and answered every call-and-response. And on the latter, he whirled about the stage one more time, unleashing his effervescent voice over another slice of synth-pop bliss.
One Response
36 minutes for 2 albums LP, 1 EP and lots of singles out during pandemic. The writer should study before writing about the artist he’s supposed to cover.
It was absolutely disappointing this stupid remark.