Having released his self-titled album in 2022 and taking the world by storm, Yungblud is spending 2023 crossing North America as part of his world tour. The alternative rock, pop punk artist has been EVERYWHERE it seems and has amassed an incredibly loyal following.
Born in England, Yungblud has garnered attention not just for his songs – such as “The Funeral,” “Don’t Feel Like Feeling Sad Today,” “Memories,” and “Tissues” – but also some pretty cool stunts. Yungblud performed three epic shows in one day at three historic venues on SoCal’s Sunset Strip: The Roxy, Whiskey a Go-Go, and The Viper Room. Now he’s becoming a stage veteran and has been labeled “Gen-Z’s rock n’ roll poster child.”
As I arrived at the venue, I could see long lines of Yungblud concertgoers at each entry gate of the Red Hat Amphitheater. Fans were dressed in black, white, and red, with many sporting colored hair and it was a cool sight to see; I even caught a few people videoing the lines as they drove by.
When it was time for the show to start, a recording promised the most complex and perfect set of all time before counting down to Games We Play.
It was their second time ever playing in Raleigh and they opened the night with “Get a Job.” Front-man Emmyn Calleiro had big news to share and said the band recently signed with Fueled By Ramen before playing “All My Untalented Friends (Ooo La La).” Calleiro has so much energy when he gets on stage and he looks like he’s just won the lottery. He has a boisterous personality that makes you smile and he’s constantly asking the audience questions, getting them engaged with their performance.
They played a few of their more popular songs during their short set like “Hey Ben” and “I Hope You’re Happy.” During the middle of their show, Calleiro had this brother, Ethan, join them to model and do a little strip tease to show off the bands’ new merch.
“That’s Amore,” by Dean Martin sounded over the speaker system; a large green backdrop with the words “We are THE REGRETTES nice to meet you” hung from the rafters of the stage before the members of the band took the stage.
After saying hello, they jumped straight into “Dress Up” and “California Friends.” Front-woman Lydia Night reminds me a lot of Jennifer Lawrence with her mannerisms. She had a terrible time trying to pronounce Raleigh during the show and kept butchering the name, but her musical talents well made up for that fact.
The Regrettes played an awesome cover of “Dancing on My Own” and closed their set with “Poor Boy.”
Ahhh, the star of the evening was finally up next. The crowd could not wait to catch of a glimpse of Yungblud (Dominic Harrison) and see him perform live. He came out, screamed “North Carolina are you fucking ready?” and repeatedly said “Let’s go!” before singing “21st Century Liability.” He was all over the stage, jumping, crouching, running. He did not slow down the entire night and the fans were on their feet, screaming with their arms in the air.
Yungblud performed the hit “Tissues,” which includes the sample of The Cures’ “Close To Me.” I recently learned that was personally approved by Cure front-man, Robert Smith after Yungblud emailed him. Per Yungblud, “He types in all caps, Robert. He was like, ‘HELLO DOM, YOU CAN USE IT ALL GOOD HERE, LOVE ROBERT.’”
Before playing “Parents,” Yungblud said “welcome home” to the fans who had been to his show before and told them it was their responsibility to make sure the newcomers knew they were to be the loudest and highest jumping fans.
At one time during the show, he made his way down the middle section of chairs and sang amongst his devoted fans. Those near him were crying, snapping pictures, and in overall shock. They couldn’t believe they were so close to their hero and musical icon.
I didn’t think the crowd could get anymore hyped up after that, but I was wrong because during “Fleabag,” everyone sang along and jumped in place, thrashing their arms. It was what makes live concerts so great. He brought not one, but two fans on stage to help pick the next song and of course they chose “Medication.”
Before “Anarchist,” he told everyone to look to their left and right and make a new friend this evening; he told all the little kids it was ok to swear at a Yungblud concert and that everyone, even them, had to say “hello motherfucker” to their new friend.
He played “Kill Somebody” and again, everyone sang along to the catchy lyrics. To close the set, he played a cover of Machine Gun Kelly’s “I Think I’m OKAY.”
The encore was one of the better ones. He picked out people from each section to go on stage with him. They sang, danced, took pics, and even moshed a little at his request. We got to hear “Lowlife” and see the all the animations on the screen behind him and then “Loner.”
I have to admit, I was a little leery of going to the Yungblud concert, but it ended up being one of my favorite music performances. He doesn’t feel scripted and he seems to really care about his fans, their well-being, and giving them a night to remember. There are still a couple of dates left on the US portion of Yungblud: The World Tour, and then he will head to Europe.
