Big Vibes with Troye Sivan
Last time Troye Sivan was in Copenhagen, I expressed how I would go see him again in a heartbeat. It took nearly three years before he came back to my city but I did buy VIP tickets again to see my boy. It's been a bit surreal to see him grow in recognition and collaborate with so many cool people. He had grown up, matured and released a new album but he still made the concert a very special time and I am so very happy that I got to be present for it.
I arrived for the early opening of the doors as part of the VIP package and then I spent about an hour queuing and being shepparded around the venue. It was quite a bizarre experience but it passed the time. It was less cool sitting on the floor for over an hour and a half but at least I was in about third or fourth row and absurdly close to the front of the stage. Everyone was buzzing for the main event and I did a little reading on my phone to pass the time.
I hadn't heard much from his supporting act, Leland, but I did know that he helped co-write a significant portion of the songs on Troye's two albums. Regardless of whether I knew the songs or not, Leland was a very energetic performer and it was a pleasure to watch him. He warmed up the crowd wonderfully and it was a bit of torture to wait the half an hour after he finished until Troye went on.
Everyone lost their mind a little when the lights dropped and the music started. Troye went out under the huge curtain and sang the beginning of the first song and when the curtain just started falling and revealed the whole set behind, I felt the screams inside of my skull. I didn't mind one bit. I was excited along with everyone else. One thing I've always loved about Troye's music and the way he performs, is how he seems to be inviting you into his space. He paid such close attention to the audience, even explaining how he could pratically see everyone in this crowd because it was a wide audience but not that far stretching back. He mentioned how we had the cannodling gays in the corner, the people with "pride halos" in the front, some dude with a hat from America (whom I am assuming goes to a lot of the concerts) and the tall dude bopping along to HEAVEN like it was a clubbing song. My corner at the very front was labelled by him as the Lit Corner because every time he went near us we just started dancing and going wild. The photo below captures the atmosphere very nicely.
Troye has always had a bit of an awkward way of dancing but he has really grown into it over the years. He had matured, and I'm not just talking about the biceps he was sporting. He is 23 now and he is not that young gangly boy anymore, even if he still has long and flowy limps. He knows how to bust a wine. He also changed outfits multiple times during the concert, first starting in a light suit with a seethrough top, where he quickly tossed the jacket, later a dark shirt with dark pants and finishing with a shirt in fishnet looking material and striped pants.
Troye also surprised pretty much the whole audience when he revealed that he had been told that this would be the very last performance in Forum Black Box. I had no idea that the venue was being shut down, or demonished as Troye stated, but it truly made the evening even more special. Troye happily took it upon himself to give the venue a proper send-off. He was feeling himself from the moment he walked out on stage, which he said was partly due to the fact he had slept for thirteen hours the night before.
Of course, my list loving self, did jot down his setlist. I just now looked over the setlist from the concert in May 2016 and this time around he played 17 songs, three more than last time he graced Copenhagen with his presence. He had all ten of his songs from Bloom, five from Blue Neighbourhood and two songs that he had made in collaboration with other artists, namely Lauv and Charli XCX. During the first musical interlude, Troye did his first outfit change and a sofa with lots of soft lighting from old school floor lights rose up from the ground. They stayed for three songs before the little living room scene sunk back down and Troye got into his third and final outfit. I loved and sung along to all of the songs and my only tiny complaint was the absence of EASE but only because I adore that song so very much.
After the first song on the sofa, balloons started showing up in the audience. The first one were those letter balloons, appearently spelling out Troye's drag name, which he had found out when he was a guest on RuPaul's Drag Race the week prior. But soon enough more regular balloons popped up in the audience and we started playing "don't let the balloon touch the ground", which Troye found hugely amusing. We did obviously ablige when he said he wanted to catch one. However, he seemed bewildered how balloons kept appearing and he nearly lost his shit when he was told that people were blowing them up during the concert. It was quite adorable.
It truly felt like a very special crowd to be a part of. I felt completely in sync with the people around me and it was a little bit like we all breathed as one. The audience and the performers might be seperated by a stage but it didn't feel that way. It felt like we were all in it together. We jumped around, we sung along in harmonies and we danced to his music. I did have a little burst of anxiety when we were waiting in line to properly get to the stage and the regular ticket holders started filing in but I'm so glad I pushed that down and stayed in line. The sound of chatter was just amplified and I felt a little trapped where I stood but I took a moment to just breathe and stop listening to my surroundings until I felt okay again.
After Troye had asked us to Dance to This, he said that the final song was coming up. He only paused for a second before he confessed that he was of course lying becuase he liked the appeal of an encore and he proceeded to explain that he still wanted us to lose his mind when he left and give him a proper send off after the "final" number. It was absolutely endearing and I can't help but appreciate the candor. The honesty between Troye and his audience lingers from all the way back to his YouTube days. He might have been the king of "soon" but he always told us as soon as he could what he was working on and he never used tricks or dishonesty. He was thorughly impressed when we showed him that we knew how to call him back for an encore - loudly singing lålålålålå and for a beat there it felt almost like a football stadium. Troye shot us a little confused frown, claiming that didn't sound like words (he was correct I suppose) but then had a little impromptu dance to our chanting nonetheless.
He was welcomed back for the encore accompanied by more chanting and high energy. Between the two encore songs, someone shouted at him to sing OTP. He was completely baffled and grinned whickedly but he claimed to have forgotten all of the lyrics (and I doubt his band would know the chords either). It is an original song from December 2012 after all and it never moved past being something cool and silly on his YouTube channel. He did, however, promise that maybe he'd do it next time. He will absolutely have forgotten by the time he makes it back to DK but that's okay. The request was soon forgotten as we lost our minds to My My My and really gave Forum Black Box a proper final night of concert glory. Confetti exploded all over us and it felt like it just kept coming. In that moment, nothing else existed outside of the music, the confetti and the hearts beating in sync. It was beautiful.
Troye jokingly suggested that all of the audience members should make a Facebook group and we would all agreed to meet up and do this again and he reiterated that this was one of the best crowds. I'm sure artists say that at every new show, as Troye confessed himself, but I do also think that he found something special about the atmosphere in the Danish space. He posted not one but two stories on his Instagram the following days, which he doesn't always do after shows.
I arrived for the early opening of the doors as part of the VIP package and then I spent about an hour queuing and being shepparded around the venue. It was quite a bizarre experience but it passed the time. It was less cool sitting on the floor for over an hour and a half but at least I was in about third or fourth row and absurdly close to the front of the stage. Everyone was buzzing for the main event and I did a little reading on my phone to pass the time.
I hadn't heard much from his supporting act, Leland, but I did know that he helped co-write a significant portion of the songs on Troye's two albums. Regardless of whether I knew the songs or not, Leland was a very energetic performer and it was a pleasure to watch him. He warmed up the crowd wonderfully and it was a bit of torture to wait the half an hour after he finished until Troye went on.
Everyone lost their mind a little when the lights dropped and the music started. Troye went out under the huge curtain and sang the beginning of the first song and when the curtain just started falling and revealed the whole set behind, I felt the screams inside of my skull. I didn't mind one bit. I was excited along with everyone else. One thing I've always loved about Troye's music and the way he performs, is how he seems to be inviting you into his space. He paid such close attention to the audience, even explaining how he could pratically see everyone in this crowd because it was a wide audience but not that far stretching back. He mentioned how we had the cannodling gays in the corner, the people with "pride halos" in the front, some dude with a hat from America (whom I am assuming goes to a lot of the concerts) and the tall dude bopping along to HEAVEN like it was a clubbing song. My corner at the very front was labelled by him as the Lit Corner because every time he went near us we just started dancing and going wild. The photo below captures the atmosphere very nicely.
Troye has always had a bit of an awkward way of dancing but he has really grown into it over the years. He had matured, and I'm not just talking about the biceps he was sporting. He is 23 now and he is not that young gangly boy anymore, even if he still has long and flowy limps. He knows how to bust a wine. He also changed outfits multiple times during the concert, first starting in a light suit with a seethrough top, where he quickly tossed the jacket, later a dark shirt with dark pants and finishing with a shirt in fishnet looking material and striped pants.
Troye also surprised pretty much the whole audience when he revealed that he had been told that this would be the very last performance in Forum Black Box. I had no idea that the venue was being shut down, or demonished as Troye stated, but it truly made the evening even more special. Troye happily took it upon himself to give the venue a proper send-off. He was feeling himself from the moment he walked out on stage, which he said was partly due to the fact he had slept for thirteen hours the night before.
Of course, my list loving self, did jot down his setlist. I just now looked over the setlist from the concert in May 2016 and this time around he played 17 songs, three more than last time he graced Copenhagen with his presence. He had all ten of his songs from Bloom, five from Blue Neighbourhood and two songs that he had made in collaboration with other artists, namely Lauv and Charli XCX. During the first musical interlude, Troye did his first outfit change and a sofa with lots of soft lighting from old school floor lights rose up from the ground. They stayed for three songs before the little living room scene sunk back down and Troye got into his third and final outfit. I loved and sung along to all of the songs and my only tiny complaint was the absence of EASE but only because I adore that song so very much.
Seventeen
Bloom
Plum
HEAVEN
FOOLS
Lucky Strike
WILD
I’m so tired...
—interlude—
Postcard
The Good Side
What a Heavenly Way to Die
—interlude—
BITE
1999
Dance to This
Animal
—encore—
YOUTH
My My My!
After the first song on the sofa, balloons started showing up in the audience. The first one were those letter balloons, appearently spelling out Troye's drag name, which he had found out when he was a guest on RuPaul's Drag Race the week prior. But soon enough more regular balloons popped up in the audience and we started playing "don't let the balloon touch the ground", which Troye found hugely amusing. We did obviously ablige when he said he wanted to catch one. However, he seemed bewildered how balloons kept appearing and he nearly lost his shit when he was told that people were blowing them up during the concert. It was quite adorable.
It truly felt like a very special crowd to be a part of. I felt completely in sync with the people around me and it was a little bit like we all breathed as one. The audience and the performers might be seperated by a stage but it didn't feel that way. It felt like we were all in it together. We jumped around, we sung along in harmonies and we danced to his music. I did have a little burst of anxiety when we were waiting in line to properly get to the stage and the regular ticket holders started filing in but I'm so glad I pushed that down and stayed in line. The sound of chatter was just amplified and I felt a little trapped where I stood but I took a moment to just breathe and stop listening to my surroundings until I felt okay again.
After Troye had asked us to Dance to This, he said that the final song was coming up. He only paused for a second before he confessed that he was of course lying becuase he liked the appeal of an encore and he proceeded to explain that he still wanted us to lose his mind when he left and give him a proper send off after the "final" number. It was absolutely endearing and I can't help but appreciate the candor. The honesty between Troye and his audience lingers from all the way back to his YouTube days. He might have been the king of "soon" but he always told us as soon as he could what he was working on and he never used tricks or dishonesty. He was thorughly impressed when we showed him that we knew how to call him back for an encore - loudly singing lålålålålå and for a beat there it felt almost like a football stadium. Troye shot us a little confused frown, claiming that didn't sound like words (he was correct I suppose) but then had a little impromptu dance to our chanting nonetheless.
He was welcomed back for the encore accompanied by more chanting and high energy. Between the two encore songs, someone shouted at him to sing OTP. He was completely baffled and grinned whickedly but he claimed to have forgotten all of the lyrics (and I doubt his band would know the chords either). It is an original song from December 2012 after all and it never moved past being something cool and silly on his YouTube channel. He did, however, promise that maybe he'd do it next time. He will absolutely have forgotten by the time he makes it back to DK but that's okay. The request was soon forgotten as we lost our minds to My My My and really gave Forum Black Box a proper final night of concert glory. Confetti exploded all over us and it felt like it just kept coming. In that moment, nothing else existed outside of the music, the confetti and the hearts beating in sync. It was beautiful.
Troye jokingly suggested that all of the audience members should make a Facebook group and we would all agreed to meet up and do this again and he reiterated that this was one of the best crowds. I'm sure artists say that at every new show, as Troye confessed himself, but I do also think that he found something special about the atmosphere in the Danish space. He posted not one but two stories on his Instagram the following days, which he doesn't always do after shows.
It was a magial experience and big fucking vibes. I lost myself in the music several times, I watched spellbound as Troye moved on the stage and it felt like the crowd was one mass melted together for a couple of hours. My whole body felt lit up and I had a plesant summing in my ears and I kept humming to myself. I always tend to hum when I'm especially happy and this time was no exception and the melodies were, of course, exclusively Troye's.
It is weird to think I've been following him along in his journey ever since late 2013. He has gone through so many stages in his life and his music continues to evolve with every year that passes. I am selfishly a little glad that he changed his blond hair back to natural colour because I like that so much more on him. At the same time, I can't help but admire that he went for full immersion and used his hair colour to mark a distinguished section of his career with the release of his second album. As with last time, the European leg was his last one and by now (since it took me ten days to get around to finish writing this post) the Bloom tour has officially ended.
It will probably be a couple of years, or at least a year, before we get new music but I'm sure I'll be right back to see him perform for a third time when he has made his future third album. It's bound to be even more special, if that's possible. Three times lucky and all that. I can hardly wait.
It is weird to think I've been following him along in his journey ever since late 2013. He has gone through so many stages in his life and his music continues to evolve with every year that passes. I am selfishly a little glad that he changed his blond hair back to natural colour because I like that so much more on him. At the same time, I can't help but admire that he went for full immersion and used his hair colour to mark a distinguished section of his career with the release of his second album. As with last time, the European leg was his last one and by now (since it took me ten days to get around to finish writing this post) the Bloom tour has officially ended.
It will probably be a couple of years, or at least a year, before we get new music but I'm sure I'll be right back to see him perform for a third time when he has made his future third album. It's bound to be even more special, if that's possible. Three times lucky and all that. I can hardly wait.
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