Let me just start by saying that if you had told me 10 years ago that I would go to a Jesse McCartney concert, I would have died of excitement. Jesse McCartney was my first crush, and I listened to his “Beautiful Soul” album so much when I was in elementary school that my dad literally threw away my CD. My love for Jesse McCartney was undying… until I saw him in concert this last Monday at the Ogden Theatre.
In its defense, the concert started out really strong. The opening act, Whitney Woerz, was a spunky, talented performer with a killer light show. Her rendition of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” was sweet and soulful and confirmed her star-status.
Followed by her was the man of the hour, Jesse McCartney. He started out his set with a scream-worthy performance of “Leavin’” and “She’s No You.” He was exactly what I was hoping for—his blonde hair was flowing, his “shawty’s” were heart-melting and his choreography was so 2000s it made me want to break out my Juicy sweatpants. That feeling quickly changed to confusion as the concert continued.
I heard the question “Is he okay?” asked a few times from different concertgoers throughout the evening. McCartney was all over the place; from running back and forth across the stage and multiple crotch grabs, to stopping to pose and show his profile to the audience, McCartney was a little much for my taste. Usually, I would enjoy this level of energy from a performer, but it caused the concert to be laughable.
Simply put, McCartney seemed fake throughout the entire evening. Almost “Ken Doll-like,” according to my date.
My favorite part of the concert was when he brought a girl on stage to serenade her, a similar tactic Justin Bieber used at the beginning of his career. The criteria to be chosen was simple: heartbroken and single. When asked who she was with that evening, she confidently answered, “my boyfriend.” Though McCartney followed through with his serenade, it was mostly drowned out by anguished outcries of “she’s a liar.”
There were some positives to the evening despite his bizarre personality, however. McCartney’s use of lighting and projectors throughout the concert was impressive. Specifically, on his performance of “She’s No You,” he created a jaw-dropping backdrop of New York City at night that shifted throughout the song. Along with that, his remix of “Beautiful Soul” was a lot of fun to jam to as a long-time fan of the song.
Though it was exciting to see my long-time crush perform live, the best part of the concert may have been the Bruno Mars music playing between performances.
