Benson Boone has always had the voice, the energy and, of course, the backflips, but at Crypto Arena on Monday, Aug. 10, he proved just how much bigger his live show has become without losing the personality that made audiences fall for him in the first place.
Benson walked onto one of the biggest stages in Los Angeles sporting a new look that felt Steve Harrington-inspired, immediately signaling a new era of his live show. The concert paired his increasingly confident showmanship with what has always been at the center of his appeal: an absolutely massive voice.
His vocals remained undeniably evocative. Benson has reached a point where hearing the recorded versions of his songs doesn’t entirely prepare you for what he’ll do with them live. Throughout the night, he took vocal liberties that differed from his previous tour, playing with runs, phrasing and arrangements rather than simply recreating the studio recordings note-for-note. Even for fans who had seen him before, there was something new to hear.
Photo credit: Maddy Myer)
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And then there was the production. It was a huge room, but Benson rarely allowed it to feel like one. He constantly traveled between different sections of the stage, interacting with fans from seemingly every possible angle instead of planting himself at center stage and expecting the arena to come to him. It made a production designed for thousands of people somehow feel considerably more personal.
The visual design was equally impressive. Stage colors shifted alongside the colors of the massive video screens, creating an immersive environment where the lighting, visuals and music all felt connected. At one point, the combination of blue and red lighting was particularly striking, evoking some of the dramatic visual atmosphere of Tron.
The stage itself continually transformed throughout the show. Benson rose above the audience on an elevated platform bearing his initials, while another section featured instruments surrounded by flower-like lights, creating a softer visual contrast to the arena’s scale.
We thought he would scale back the backflips on this tour, but boy, were we wrong. The total backflip count was a whopping seven, yet somehow, that wasn’t even close to the most impressive spectacle of the night. Benson also flew across Crypto.com Arena on a star. It was exactly as over-the-top as it sounds, but in a good way.
Photo credit: Maddy Myer)
The theatricality continued with playful video interludes, including “Wanted Man”-themed credits presented in a style reminiscent of the famous Star Wars opening crawl. Costume changes added another layer to the show, and also served as a reminder that Benson’s transformation from piano-playing singer-songwriter to ripped, arena-commanding frontman is very much complete.
Still, some of the night’s strongest moments came when all of that production disappeared.
Benson remains a piano man at heart, pun absolutely intended, and his ability to sit behind the instrument and command an arena is just as effective as any backflip or flying set piece. Those quieter moments gave his vocals room to breathe and provided necessary contrast to the sheer scale of everything happening around him.
One particularly emotional interlude featured home-video footage of Boone as a baby with his mom for “Momma Song.” In a show filled with massive lights, moving stages and arena-sized spectacle, seeing the person behind the performer gave the night another dimension.
For longtime fans, the setlist also offered welcome changes. Benson performed “Before You,” a song absent from his previous show, and its addition was easily one of the night’s highlights. Hearing older material alongside newer songs also emphasized how much Benson has evolved vocally since his last tour.
He also gave the Los Angeles crowd a taste of what’s next, performing the new song “Time of Your Life.” Rather than allowing the show to exist purely as a celebration of music fans already know, moments like this made it feel like a preview of his next chapter as well.
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Between songs, his personality remained as important to the show as the carefully planned production. Benson’s wonderfully random commentary, including the declaration, “If your passion is liking fish…”, kept the concert from ever becoming overly polished. For every meticulously timed lighting cue, there was another moment that simply felt like Benson being Benson.
Photo credit: Maddy Myer)
Even the more chaotic rock star flourishes made an appearance, including a water-spitting moment that added yet another entry to the increasingly long list of things happening onstage.
But the biggest accomplishment of his Crypto.com Arena show wasn’t the seven backflips, the flying star, the elevated stage or even the stunning production. It was his ability to make all of those things feel secondary to the songs themselves.
The bigger the venues get, the easier it would be for his voice and personality to become swallowed by the spectacle around him. Instead, he’s done the opposite. The stage may be larger, the production more ambitious and the performer more confident, but Benson still knows when to strip everything back to himself, a piano and a voice powerful enough to fill the arena without any help at all.
Crypto.com Arena showcased an artist who has clearly graduated into his arena era, without forgetting the piano man who got him there. Seven backflips certainly didn’t hurt, either
For even more on why we adore Benson live, click HERE to read our review of his American Heart Tour show in Fort Worth last year.
