On July 15, 5 Seconds of Summer performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City. We are honored to have witnessed the band’s first headlining show at the Garden!
There was a lot of traffic in New York City, but thankfully we made it to the show on time! There were a total of 8 merchandise tables. We bought two T-shirts and two posters! The T-shirts are $40 each and the posters are $10 each!
Black T Shirt W/ Tour Dates-$40
Photo Credit: Michele Mendez
White T-Shirt W/ Tour Dates-$40
Photo Credit: Michele Mendez
White Poster & Black Poster W/ Tour Dates-$10 Each
Photo Credit: Michele Mendez
We weren’t in our seats for long when the lights went out and Hey Violet came on stage! Their setlist is as follows:
Make Up
Brand New Moves
Guys My Age
Don’t Let Me Down
I Can Feel It
Fukboi
All We Ever Wanted
Hey Violet opened up with their song, “Make Up,” which the crowd went crazy for! They continued with “Brand New Moves” and “Guys My Age.” They had everyone singing along when they sang a cover of “Don’t Let Me Down.” They went on to sing “Fukboi.” They also performed their hit song “I Can Feel It,” from their EP. Hey Violet finished with, “All We Ever Wanted.” The band had people dancing and rocking out to all of their songs! They are definitely a band to look out for!
Hey Violet Performing “Fukboi”
The second opening act was One Ok Rock, which is a Japanese rock band. One Ok Rock definitely had us on our feet rocking out! Their setlist is as follows:
The Way Back
Cry Out
Suddenly
Hard To Love
Decision
Mighty Long Fall
One Ok Rock took the stage with “The Way Back.” Their screams during “Cry Out” had fans cheering! During “Suddenly,” one of the band members went shirtless which had us swooning! The crowd turned into a sea of lights for their acoustic song, “Hard To Love.” They continued with “Decision.” Their final song, Mighty Long Fall” blew us away when 3 of the members went on the catwalk! They had fans headbanging and once again had everyone cheering when the vocalist started screaming! The lead singer ended with recording a video of the crowd!
One Ok Rock Performing “Cry Out”
The time finally came! 5 Seconds of Summer came on stage! With the lights dim, they opened with a few lines from “Carry On” before blasting the stage with their hit “Hey Everybody.” The band had everyone on their feet, clapping, and singing along! Their complete setlist is as follows:
Carry On
Hey Everybody
Money
Voodoo Doll
Don’t Stop
Disconnected
Long Way Home
Outer Space
Waste The Night
Vapor
Amnesia
Castaway
Jet Black Heart
End Up Here
Good Girls
Girls Talk Boys
Permanent Vacation
What I Like About You
She Looks So Perfect
Their throwback song, “Voodoo Doll” hit us with the feels! Luke then dedicated “Don’t Stop” to all the fans in the crowd! He also left behind his guitar for “Waste The Night.”
Michael then got serious with the crowd and started talking about all the terrible events in the news. He states, “People like you who come to music concerts like this, who come to have a good time, to spread love.” He continued by asking fans to have a good time and to love one another. Michael asks fans to spread love and make a difference. He concluded by saying that “love is important” and that the next song is about love, which is “Vapor.” Luke also brought out his acoustic guitar to perform the song.
Michael Talking About Love
Calum (with his “New York City” shirt) then said, “Ever since we put these tickets on sale last year, this was the show we’ve been waiting for.” He says that their Madison Square Garden show is special for many reasons: 1.) Fans sold the place out! 2.) Fans rock 3.) Writers from their first and second albums are in attendance.
Luke commented that he hasn’t been nervous for a show in a while and that he’s very nervous for the MSG show. Calum added that he has some good news and bad news. The bad news: “We’re already halfway through the setlist.” Good news: “We still got half the set to go!”
The crowd took their phone lights out and sang along to the band’s hit, “Amnesia.” Michael and Luke showed off their musical talents at the end of “Castaway” with their amazing guitar riffs! They absolutely blew us away! Ashton finished the song off strong with his awesome drumming!
5 Seconds of Summer Performing “Castaway”
Michael then started singing “Jet Black Heart” but he immediately stopped. He looked out into the audience and just took it all in. He even took out his ear piece to hear the crowd. He had a serious face at first, and then he broke into a smile. We could only imagine what was going through his head. He made it. He’s performing at Madison Square Garden!
The fans just stared at him in awe, and Michael stared right back. Michael was definitely getting emotional, and so were the fans. This was truly a special moment between the fans and him. He stared at the crowd for a full four minutes, completely silent, before he finally continued singing “Jet Black Heart.” This was probably the most emotional part of the night, and we won’t lie, we shed a few tears, because we are just so proud of how far the boys have come.
Take a look at the special performance here:
After their emotional performance, Ashton hit us with the feels as he said, “Dreams come true, huh?” He told fans, “You can do absolutely anything out there and I just need you to know that’s all I wanted to say before I continue on.” He adds that he will talk about the Madison Square Garden show until he’s old and can’t play the drums anymore. The band then continued with “End Up Here.”
Ashton Talking About Dreams
Fans then went absolutely crazy when they heard the first few chords of “Girls Talk Boys,” the boys’ newest single! Everyone was on their feet! Although it released at midnight, it seemed that fans already knew all the lyrics! Luke didn’t play his guitar for this performance, but he did alternate between the piano and walking across the stage singing! We are so honored to have been part of 5SOS’s first ever performance of “Girls Talk Boys.”
For their final performance, “She Looks So Perfect,” beach balls were thrown into the crowd! We screamed as Calum, Luke, and Michael did the jump! Towards the end of the song, confetti streamed across the audience beautifully! The boys then took a picture on stage!
After, Calum screamed, “WHO WANTS SOME T-SHIRTS!” All four boys threw T-shirts to the crowd, and Ashton even through his drumsticks to a lucky fan! Ashton also surprised us when he went off the stage and gave everyone in the front row high-fives! All the boys then left the stage, and the screen centered on the “5SOS” logo on Ashton’s drum set. Then, the screen showed the American flag before the screen went black.
5SOS Giving Away Free T-Shirts
Photo Credit: Michele Mendez
As we were making our way outside, “Amnesia” came on the radio at Madison Square Garden and of course, all the fans sang along to the show as they exited the arena. Outside, we saw the Garden lit up with the colors of France, to honor the victims of the Nice tragedy.
5 Seconds of Summer’s performance at Madison Square was truly an unforgettable experience. We are honored to have been at the band’s first show there at the famous venue. From the emotional moment with Michael, to the exciting moment of hearing “Girls Talk Boys,” this is definitely a concert we will be talking about for a long time. We are thankful to have had the chance of seeing the boys perform live, and excitedly await until we see them again!
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