Originally published October 9, 2019 on radiofodder.com
There is nothing like seeing an artist perform live in their hometown, and pop-icon Troye Sivan was no exception. On Wednesday 25 September, Troye performed a sold-out show to 7,000 adoring fans at Margaret Court Arena. And boy did he blow us all away!
The Perth-born singer-songwriter, who has since relocated to Melbourne, rose to fame on YouTube, and has since released two albums—Blue Neighbourhood and Bloom, both of which Troye has toured globally for.
I arrived quite late to the arena, opting to go for dinner and drinks before the show with my friends. Consequently, we found ourselves towards the back of the mosh – but this is secretly my favourite spot because you can dance your little heart out.
The atmosphere was incredible and the LGBTQ+ community were out in full force tonight. I have never seen so much glitter and sparkle in one room. There were platform heels, monochrome leotards and sequinned jackets.
Every stop on the Bloom Tour is themed, with Melbourne’s theme being ‘Pop’. The crowd did not disappoint. The Spice Girls, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Britney Spears were all popular costume choices.
The first opening act was Tyde Levi – Troye’s brother – and, if I am being honest, I skipped the whole act. This wasn’t my first-time seeing Troye live, and last time he had his brother opening for him under the Pseudonym DJ Tyde and it was god-awful so I wasn’t about to sit through that again. Sorry Tyde.
The second opening act (which I did see!) was Thelma Plum, who was an absolute delight. She performed some of my favourites of hers— ‘Homecoming Queen’, ‘Clumsy Love’ and ‘Don’t Let a Good Girl Down’. Her voice was even more angelic in person. The poor honey was sick though, and was sipping tea throughout her entire set, which made her even more loveable.
Then it was time for Troye to take the stage. He emerged at precisely 9:30pm in a haze of red smoke, wearing a very well-fitting suit, and crooning ‘Seventeen’ from his most recent album Bloom. He was met with screams of adoration from the audience, and rightfully so. It was just him and a microphone in front of a giant red curtain.
Suddenly, the curtain dropped as the bridge transitioned to the final chorus, revealing Troye’s band and the entire multi-level stage. It was a magical moment. He followed ‘Seventeen’ with two more hits from Bloom – album namesake ‘Bloom’ and ‘Plum’.
Only one song into his set, Troye was already pulling out his signature dance moves: hip thrusts, body rolls and slut drops!
Next up was ‘Heaven’ from Blue Neighbourhood. This song holds a special place in my, and a lot of other queer fans’, hearts. The song explores the period of time where an individual is coming to terms with belonging to the LGBTQ+ community. Troye prefaced this song by donning a rainbow flag and reflecting on his past anxieties about religion, marriage and the world. For this song, the lights were rainbow, and there was an extra amount of love and support oozing from the crowd.
He also took the time to thank his family and friends that were in the audience for coming. He kept repeating that Melbourne was his favourite city in the world, and favourite place to tour. How wholesome.
Troye then performed a wonderful mix of tracks from both albums. From Bloom— ‘Lucky Strike’, ‘Animal’ and ‘Dance To This’ stood out. And he also played some of my faves from Blue Neighbourhood— ’Fools’, ‘Ease’ and ‘Wild’.
To really fuck the crowd up, he performed ‘Postcard’, ‘The Good Side’ and ‘What a Heavenly Way to Die’ from Bloom in succession. All three of these songs are about heartbreak and, let me tell you, there was not a dry eye in the house.
He also covered ‘1999’ by Charli XCX and ‘i’m so tired…’ by Lauv, both of which he features on, and had the crowd dancing around.
All too soon, Troye left the stage and the crowd were left stomping their feet and chanting for an encore.
And let me tell you, Troye delivered.
He emerged after an outfit change, in a David Bowie-inspired pirate outfit complete with eye patch, which was very on brand for the ‘Pop’ theme. He even admitted to us that he had to wear tights so he could do such a quick outfit change. Now that’s commitment. I bet he was really sweaty.
He performed two of his biggest hits to date— ‘Youth’ and ‘My My My’, as rainbow confetti rained down from the ceiling. The crowd danced harder than they had for the rest of the night and screamed the lyrics back at him.
It was such a high-energy concert, with a high-energy crowd to match. The arena felt like such a safe space to be unapologetically yourself and really let loose. Troye put on one heck of a concert, going extra hard for his hometown, friends and family. It’s always so incredible to see Australian artists succeed on such a global scale, and I can’t wait to see him when he comes back to Melbourne.
