Benson Boone review: ‘A dazzling display of showmanship’
Flanked by the tight musicianship of his four-piece backing band and a hovering chandelier-esque stage, Benson Boone closed out his two-night residency at Manchester’s Co-Op Live with an epic stunt-filled spectacle packed with emotion that left you with the burning question: why does he get so much criticism?
Since earning TikTok stardom, significant radio play and streaming success after the release of his megahit ‘Beautiful Things’, Boone has been hit with a barrage of criticism ranging from shots at his flamboyant stage presence to claims his music is “insipid” and even that the 23-year-old is merely an “industry plant”, something which Boone has sarcastically played into on the ‘American Heart’ tour with a pre-show video package pinning the Washington native as the “property of Industry Plant Records” whilst sat alongside a fictitious label owner, “Jack Millions”.
However, the criticism is mind-boggling. Ever since auditioning for American Idol in 2021, the 23-year-old Washington native has been an artist destined for success. Katy Perry certainly held that belief, stating, “I see you winning American Idol if you want” after Boone’s audition for the show. However, instead of participating in American Idol, the 23-year-old forged his own path, signing for Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds’ record label Night Street, going viral on TikTok and releasing his debut album ‘Fireworks & Rollerblades’, with ‘Beautiful Things’ in particular becoming a megahit.
With talent in abundance and frequent comparisons to the legendary Freddie Mercury, It was inevitable that the intimate venues Boone started out in were not going to be able to pin an artist of his calibre down for long, but the speed in which he has ascended to arena-headlining status has been swift. It has been just over two years since Boone performed in Manchester for the first time in front of approximately 300 people at The Deaf Institute, but it’s safe to say that Boone was in his element inside Europe’s biggest arena.
Incorporating a blend of material from the aforementioned ‘Fireworks & Rollerblades’ and Boone’s recent release ‘American Heart’ into the setlist, Boone opened proceedings with a trademark backflip before launching into a three-punch combo of ‘I Wanna Be The One You Call’, ‘Wanted Man’ and ‘Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else’ from the latter record and lifting the crowd out of their seats from the opening note.
Cramming 20 tracks into a tight two-hour set, the hits came thick and fast in the opening interval, with Boone’s soaring, blissful falsetto singing on ‘Man In Me’ a notable highlight before the 23-year-old climbed onto the barrier of the standing section to perform a rendition of ‘Drunk In My Mind’ with the raw, emotional weight in the singer’s voice complemented by his terrific backing band’s wall of sound.
From engaging the crowd in a session of Mercury’s iconic ‘Ay-Oh’s’ to showcasing his vulnerable side when reflecting on how loss is an inevitable part of life and demonstrating a sizeable amount of wit when improvising a story about a fan’s lust over a crush, Boone is a polished showman who knows how to feed off an audience’s energy and make the biggest settings feel intimate, and in the same breath, knows how to switch up the intensity in equal measure.
The shimmery, sugary sweet and synth-heavy ‘Mystical, Magical’ is delivered with Boone positioned on chandelier-esque staging above the audience and feels utterly spine-tingling in a live setting. A medley of ‘Let Me Go’, ‘There She Goes’ and ‘Sugar Sweet’ is performed with a perfect blend of bright guitars and punchy drumming. ‘Young American Heart’ felt like a shot of adrenaline to the bloodstream as Boone raced across the catwalk after nabbing a cowboy hat from a fan before confetti exploded from the stage and the fan-favourite ‘Mr. Electric Blue’ saw the Co-Op Live erupt into one raucous singalong.
As the evening wound down, a euphoric and utterly explosive rendition of ‘Beautiful Things’ left the 23,500-strong crowd singing their hearts out as fireworks filled the sky before a captivating performance of ‘Cry’, which felt grittier and punchier in a live setting, ended Boone’s return to Manchester on a breathtaking high. After a dazzling display of showmanship at the Co-Op Live, it’s time to begin appreciating the 23-year-old rather than blindly criticising him for nonsensical reasons.
Elliot James Reay
After starting his career busking on the streets of Bury and singing Elvis covers in pubs, Elliot James Reay performed his first show at The Deaf Institute in December 2024, and he has not looked back since. Following the release of Reay’s first EP, ‘All This To Say I Love You’, earlier this year, the singer embarked on his first-ever headline tour in July before accompanying Boone on the North America leg of the ‘American Heart World Tour’ in August ahead of the European leg of the tour. Needless to say, the 23-year-old put on a clinic as he gave his hometown crowd a taste of his nostalgic yet modern brand of rock and roll.
Reay was full of swagger from the opening note as he launched into a pulsating rendition of ‘Boy In Love’, which was complemented by some sublime drumming from Jack Geary to open the set. Eager to capitalise on every second available to him, Reay swiftly followed it up with a performance of the unreleased ‘Hello There’, which saw the singer and his guitarist Harry Howell break off into solos midway through.
In a set that blended Reay’s catalogue with classics such as Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman’ and a cover of ‘Unchained Melody’, which the 23-year-old will be releasing on streaming services this Friday, the singer was a commanding and charismatic presence as he made the Co-Op Live stage his own, and I’ve got little doubt that the crooner from Bury will be headlining Europe’s biggest arena in the not-too-distant future.
Renditions of ‘Mr. E’ and ‘I Think They Call This Love’ swiftly followed before the sold-out crowd gave Reay a deafening seal of approval. With a hint of excitement in his voice, the singer declared, “I think I am doing my job” after previously stating it was his responsibility to get the entire audience ready for Boone before he closed out the set with a stomping rendition of ‘Who Knew Dancing Was A Sin’. Offering something fresh and exciting to younger audiences and something nostalgic to older gig-goers, Elliot James Reay is an artist with the ability to unify crowds of all ages, and it’s safe to say that with artists like Reay leading the charge, rock and roll is truly alive and indeed, thriving.