On May 23rd, the 21-year-old Benson Boone brought the ‘Fireworks and Rollerblades’ tour to Antwerp, Belgium. The show took place at Trix, one of the smallest venues on the European leg of his tour, with a capacity of just 1000 people. Tickets went on sale right before ‘Beautiful Things’ was released, which led to an exponential increase in the singer’s popularity. During the concert, Benson revealed that eight times as many people signed up for the waitlist for that event alone.
Benson kicked off his 17-song set with ‘Be Someone’, an upbeat tune that electrified the crowd from the first note. From the barricade all the way to the back, everyone sang along to every single line, setting the bar high for the rest of the night. High-energy tracks like ‘Coffee Cake’, ‘There She Goes’, and ‘Drunk In My Mind’ followed, before shifting the mood and slowing it down with ‘Cry’. This one was introduced as a song that he wrote as an outlet on bad days. Replicating the studio version of the song, he started slow, then soon cut off the sound and lights after which the song turned into an upbeat banger. The crowd seemed to resonate with the song’s meaning and sang along extra loudly to the words “Go ahead and ruin someone else’s life, cry, cry, go bug somebody else so I can sleep at night”.
While the setlist consisted largely of songs off his most recent album ‘Fireworks and Rollerblades’, Benson made sure to switch it up with some of his older gems. When he mentioned his first ever written and released song, longtime fans immediately recognized ‘Ghost Town’. He shared stories behind each song, giving insight into their inspiration and meanings. ‘Hello Love’, he explained, is the song that tied the whole album together and motivated him to finish it. The crowd saw this slower song as the perfect opportunity to light up the room with their flashlights.
During the latter half of the show, he described his favourite track on the album, ‘My Greatest Fear’, as a reflection of his fear of losing someone he loves. The emotions continued to flow and with only one song in between, Boone then moved on to sing ‘In The Stars’, referring back to that fear of losing someone: “You are bound to lose people that you love at some point in your life and it is hard every time. (…) This song helped me a lot while going through the grieving process of losing someone.” At his request, the crowd put away their phones, so they could live in the moment. Respecting his wish, the majority of the crowd kept their phones hidden throughout the entire song, allowing themselves and others to fully experience the emotions the song comes with.
As the night came to an end, he sang his current hit ‘Beautiful Things’. The crowd sang their hearts out one last time and Benson made it extra special by altering the lyrics to include Antwerp: “I need – Antwerp – these beautiful things that I’ve got”. Before exiting the stage, he went to different parts of the barricade to say one last goodbye to the fans and then left, in true Benson Boone fashion, right after doing some acrobatics. Benson’s infectious energy lingered, leaving fans singing along loudly to the post-show playlist while smiling brightly as they left the venue.
