Concert Review: Troye Sivan Live

If you’re unfamiliar with who Troye Sivan is, I recommend the investment of not only time, but energy. A staggering amount of videos to wade through will have you turning into a zombie, but the few dollars you throw down for the WILD EP will be worth the trek.

Mr. Sivan, small and sweet, made a Youtube channel a number of years ago. The year was 2007 and young Sivan was singing for a camera and views of the building audience Youtube had started to gain. His hair was shaggy, he sang more than he joked, and he spelt ‘guys’ as ‘guyz.’ 

Fast forward to 2015, and Troye is a critically acclaimed artist, has over three million Youtube subscribers, and is currently trekking his way through his very first tour.

And I was lucky enough to have witnessed it.

Firstly, the show was a sold out venue of around five hundred people. Packed to the brim and stirring with excitement, it was hot, sweaty, and cheers were bouncing off the walls. The audience was a healthy dose of all ages, genders, style, and happiness. It was the most delightfully prevalent LGBT+ audience I had ever encountered, and It might have had something to do with Sivan’s own vocal presence in the community.

In 2013, Sivan released a video of his coming out story. As a young artist, this move garnered a lot of thought, heart, and tears. I can only think that Sivan weighed his options heavily before coming to the decision of releasing a video that would soon capture over five million viewers. Not only did it capture an audience, it captured hearts.

As for his live show, well . . . it captured that and everything in between.

Side stage, Sivan entered into the screaming and cheers with ease. His demeanor was subdued, having tweeted earlier he’d been ‘really really’ sick. Drowning in an XL polka dot hoodie, skinny jeans, and white tennis shoes, his hair was as loose and lax as his energy.

And then the beat came in.

To say the way Sivan influenced and encountered his audience would have to be summed up as predator versus prey. Not only was Troye aware of his body’s movements, so was his audience. Every beat drop accompanied either a hip thrust, a jump, an arm throw, or a full body twitch. It was violently expressive, and I was in awe for every minute of it. The audience responded in kind, reaching their hands up to press against his body as the beat rolled off him and towards the crowd. A monumental achievement for an artist to award his audience with in a first tour. An awareness of the way a crowd responds is something Troye already has hidden under lock and key. For good reason.

“Bite” became the introduction, while “Youth,” an unreleased and upcoming song off the new album Blue Neighbourhood, closed the show. The songs in between became the building bridge of magic as each lyric flew off the concert walls and into the awaiting ears of the captivated audience.

A few of the highlights included a stripped back acoustic version of Sivan’s single that put his name on the market: “Happy Little Pill.” The now guitar ballad dimmed the screaming, but brightened the room. A silent brush of genius stroked over the venue as though the vibrato in Sivan’s voice could intellectually stimulate every brain in close quarters. “Suburbia,” another brand new song off the upcoming album, was a monstrous hit with the crowd and the finest of the night for Sivan vocally.

A fumbling Troye Sivan stuttered over his water bottle and picked up a fan book laid out on the stage for him. As though it was something to be treasured like gold, Sivan held it with thin fingers and cooed at the sweet gesture. After a few more rambling sentences, the audience captivated his attention with even more fan mail for him. His reaction warmed the audience and a collective ‘aaww’ rippled through the waves of body heat. The love for Sivan poured off each person in heavy waves. Tsunami waves of affection that I’m sure knocks the 20 year old off his feet in his private moments.

I stood against the railing and watched as his hands reached towards those in the front, and grabbed the phones of others, posing for a selfie and handing it back with a smile. Sivan had little to be nervous about, due to his rising cough and ruddy cheeks, it was clear that being anxious for the show didn’t affect his overwhelming performance on stage.

A flick of the wrist with his nails painted pale pink, his blue eyes shining against the neon lights wrapping the audience in an angelic glow, we yelled wildly for the wildly talented and gracious Troye Sivan as he bowed and took his leave.

You can pre-order Blue Neighbourhood on iTunes and troyesivanstore.com now.