I’m a little late with this one, but sometimes life is crazy and delays happen. But that’s okay!
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 I found myself in Boston at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway with my daughter for a Conan Gray show. I would’ve preferred to see Conan O’Brien, but again that’s okay. When we got to Boston, the lines were quite impressive. The venue has a huge General Admission section and people wanted to get close. We were in seats, so we decided to grab food and avoid the line until it started moving. The place was packed when showtime started.
First was a young lady from England named Maisie Peters who neither I nor my daughter knew anything about. She sang and about 50% of the time she also played acoustic guitar. She had a drummer, a keyboardist, and guitarist with her (no bass. I guess prerecorded or done via keys/drums). So, it was a full band with real music which is nothing to complain about. Good to see the up and comers playing real music.
She was mostly pop with a little rock at times. I actually ended knowing more of her songs than my daughter because she did a cover of Bonnie Tylers I Need a Hero. #JohnnyFive! A solid 80s tune for sure! While we didn’t know her songs, plenty of people did.
Next was Conan Gray. The kids love him. The MGM Music Hall holds about 5,000 people of which over 4,000 were probably teenage girls who cannot control their emotions of love to scream (bloody murder type screams) and they love to scream-sing along with every word. I saw young ladies unable to control themselves breaking out into random screams, flailing arms, fanning themselves, fighting back tears and more. As I have never been a teenage girl, I just don’t get it!
From my perspective, he’s not an act I’d go see if I didn’t have a daughter, but I did see him and here are my observations. He has the potential to be a big showman. He’s young and certainly has the energy. He runs around the stage all night, he dances, he prances, he waves to all the screaming girls in the crowd, he shimmies and shakes, and obviously he sings. And yes, I’m aware that I just used the words “dances, prances, shimmies, shakes.” He does most of this with a full band consisting of keys, drums, guitars, and bass. He also can sit down with an acoustic guitar, tell a story about what inspired the song, and perform solo. You can tell there was a lot of thought put into the stage design and wardrobes as well as the light show. So, a good production.
I will also say, he has a very 80s throwback sound to his music. While I love the 80s, I was a fan of 80s metal and hair bands. This was more synth-pop which I was never into. He was like an updated version of Flock of Seagulls, but with more bass and more guitars, and less focus on being all synth…and with a wardrobe that David Bowie might consider if he was just starting out today.
I have no idea which songs he played except Heather because that seems to be the hit, which everyone screamed along with, and I’ve heard others talk about when mentioning his name.
Also, I have to say, the earplugs I recently bought specifically for concerts are amazing at blocking out the damaging frequencies…including 4000 screaming girls. They don’t muffle the sound like the soft foam ones do so there’s no quality loss. Very happy with them, and would recommend a pair!
That’s it for now!
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