By Alexandra Pullen
Photo Credit: Lily Ajaib.
If, like me, your social media was flooded with the lyrics “moonbean ice cream, taking off your blue jeans” this summer, you may (again, like me) have built up an initial feeling of contempt towards Benson Boone’s track Mystical Magical. I simply couldn’t escape it, and over time the high-pitched chorus was plaguing my mind. I’m usually the first to turn to the well-known idiom ‘never judge a book by its cover’, especially when it comes to music, but in this case, I didn’t even bother listening to Boone’s second album American Heart when it was released in June.
Fans turned to social media with comments likening him to Harry Styles and truthfully, I thought the comparison was absurd. The only resemblance I could see was perhaps in fashion choices, with Boone, like Styles, frequently wearing sparkly jumpsuits or flowing two-piece suits, but if this was the only similarity I could draw, it was clear to me that the likes of Prince, Elton John and David Bowie made these fashion statements way before Styles. Boone himself has even spoken out on the comparison, stating to Rolling Stone “I don’t want to be the same as Harry Styles…It’s not me. I’m Benson Boone! I’m completely different.”
When you find yourself as an emerging artist in an age where social media can make or break your career, it can be hugely impactful when such a small snippet from an entire album goes viral and faces such scrutiny as Mystical Magical has. However, thankfully the 23-year-old singer from Washington has a sense of humour, and doesn’t shy away from this himself. During this year, Boone has completely leant into the backflips, the accusations of being an ‘industry plant’, and any other criticism which has come his way. It was this satirical side, and incredible covers of songs by Styles, Adele, and Bruno Mars, which made me reconsider my thoughts of Boone, so I jumped at the chance to watch him at the Co-Op Live.
Following Elliot James Reay’s incredible opening set, the crowd was greeted by Boone via video. His humour shone through immediately, once again joking about being signed to ‘Industry Plant Records’ and battling someone playing his spotlight-grabbing manager to introduce the tour. After the comical start, and quite the dramatic entrance amidst a cloud of smoke, bright lights and pyros, Boone officially kicked off his show, with I Wanna Be The One You Call and Wanted Man, both of which feature on his second album. With these two tracks, he immediately displayed an impressive talent in commanding and controlling the stage (an important job with such a large set).
During the next song – possibly one of the catchiest of the night – Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else, Boone performed his first backflip off an elevated platform stage after asking “Are we doing well Manchester?!” At this time, the first show at Co-op Live signalled the biggest sold out show of the entire tour, which Boone acknowledged with immense gratitude. The thousands of red, white and blue outfits which flooded the crowd began dancing as section by section, the audience stood to cheer for the singer.
The next few songs saw a switch between some slower, heartfelt ballads which told personal tales such as Man in Me, a song Benson described as one of his favourites to perform, and more upbeat and energised tracks including Be Someone and Drunk in My Mind. Boone jumped off the stage to interact with members of the crowd during the latter, where one fan placed a sparkly black cowboy hat onto his head which he wore with pride. An incredible high note while on his knees ended this one and we ‘slowed it down’ a tad before a short break. “When life starts moving too fast, it’s okay to take it in a little bit, slow it down a little bit”, Boone shared before singing Slow It Down from his debut album Fireworks & Rollerblades and backflipping off a piano.
It got to the time of the night that I was slightly dreading, the moment where Boone performed Mystical Magical. I hadn’t seen any clips spoiling the performance before seeing it, so had I no idea how each song was to be staged. What I was utterly not expecting, however, was for Boone to be swinging from a royal blue chandelier hanging from the ceiling and moving around the arena while singing this hit. Admittedly, the rendition was great and Boone hit every note. He also graced the stage with a costume change, now wearing a burgundy leather waistcoat and matching trousers.
To follow on from this, the pace slowed again for some more special songs including In The Stars. Boone delivered an incredibly earnest monologue before singing this, sharing: “[This is a] special song for me and potentially a lot of people in this room. A few years ago I lost someone who I loved very much. We’re all bound to lose people that we love, you can’t avoid it. It sucks…’
‘This song pulled me out of a moment that I disliked. There’s always something that can pull you out of a dark time. For me, it was putting those feelings on paper. [This song is] about me. It’s a little bit of Benson Boone’s heart. When you hear it, it becomes your song too.”
Throughout the night, Boone spoke to the crowd extensively which built more of a connection between him and his fans. He went on to talk about how the “last year has been crazy busy with all of the ‘moonbeam ice cream stuff’”, which was in a mimicking manner (again, not taking himself too seriously). His first of many attempts at an English accent followed as he said “…you may have been thinking ‘That’s a lot. That’s a lot but I like it!’” Getting back to the music, Boone did a medley of three older songs which he hadn’t played in a while: Let Me Go, There She Goes and Sugar Sweet.
Some Freddie Mercury-esque call and response with the crowd warmed them up a bit more as Boone performed one of the strongest songs in his set – Mr. Electric Blue – before the best part of the show. Once again, I was aware that Boone performed a cover at each show but I didn’t know how this was executed. Like other artists, he didn’t just jump into it as a way of breaking up his show. Instead he brought out a friend of his, Mr McLean, who had a t-shirt launcher in hand and a grin on his face which made it clear what was coming next. Boone explained that the lucky fan who caught the t-shirt would reveal to everyone which artist’s song the singer would be performing a rendition of…On the opening night of his Manchester shows, the chosen song was This Love by Maroon 5 which was just as stellar as his originals!
Coming to the end of the show, one of the most poignant and moving moments came with Momma Song, as Boone was accompanied by collages of childhood photos and videos on the big screen. It of course is a song all about his parents, who he described as “the best people in the world”. The emotion carried over to Love of Mine, for which he took back to the piano before expressing some love to “the mighty fine band sitting in front of me”.
His mammoth hit Beautiful Things was the penultimate track Boone played as the entire audience at the Co-op Live seemed to sing along, in awe of the performer. For the final time before the encore, he ran around the stage and jumped down to the barricade, being kitted out by a feather boa and some glasses by fans. Re-appearing for Cry, Boone bid his 23,500 fans farewell after a monumental show filled with infectious charisma and impeccable vocals.
In a night filled with eight (potentially more) backflips, two stylish outfits, countless sprints up and down his heart-shaped stage, and singing one of his biggest hits from a floating chandelier, Benson Boone was able to completely change my opinion of his music. At his first of two sold-out shows at Manchester’s Co-op Live, the singer-songwriter displayed such impressive levels of showmanship that it would be an injustice not to recognise him as one of the strongest performers touring right now.
Photography Copyright 2025 © Lily Ajaib.
Text Copyright 2025 © Alexandra Pullen/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Emma Turner