Hello Rams! Welcome back to Concert Capsule, where you live the music through the writing. For this next issue, I will be recapping the Found Heaven Tour by Conan Gray.
Gray is an act I was only somewhat familiar with before this concert. Most of my infatuation towards Gray was rooted from his vibrant fashion and the admiration I hold towards him for being an openly queer figure in the music industry. With that said, I enter the Kia Forum with the mindset of flipping through the first pages of a newly purchased book, open.
The uniform for the show was yellow, black, and most importantly stars, which were all aspects dissected from the cover of his recent album Found Heaven. While I threw together a last-minute all-black fit, fans across the arena showed out in wacky yet creative attire. Gray acknowledged the impressive dress by posting a photo of two fans at the concert wearing handmade crochet star beanies onto his Instagram.
Before Gray took the stage Maisie Peters positioned to open the show. Out of sheer respect, I always groove to supporting acts no matter if I am familiar with them or not. I believe showing love to rising talent is important in any industry, but as a long-time fan of Peters, my voice was strained before her performance was even near its end. Bouncing around to “Body Better” and tearfully mourning to “History of Man” were by far my stand-outs of her set.
Opening the show with “Fainted Love” and “Never Ending Song” was a smart way to introduce the technology of his stage design, consisting of a ginormous grand-lit star. From the show’s beginning, I could already grasp the impressive light configuration and the impact it would hold throughout the night.
After a couple more songs from Found Heaven, he scoured the archives and performed some of my personal favorites from his music catalog, “People Watching” and “The Cut That Always Bleeds.”
I enjoy the context of “People Watching” because it glares the lens of longing for genuine romance but inventing false perceptions of the people around you who are in “healthy” relationships, leading to an endless cycle of self-comparison. While singing lyrics “They’re having talks about their futures until 4am and I’m happy for them,” he’d move the microphone away from him and mouth “No I am not!” making a comical memory during the show.
Flipping the switch to fragility, he’d go on to sing soul-touching deep-cuts “Family Line” and “The Story.” Before beginning “The Story” he would connect to the crowd through a heartwarming speech about his journey with mental instability. “I didn’t know if I wanted to keep having to fight, but then, I did… I guess this song is a little reminder to all of y’all you never know the end of the story.”
After many wiped tears, he’d ditch the guitar and prance around the stage to “Winner.” The crowd-to-artist connection became evident during the song by a fan project organized by TikTok user @teheanhtehe13. The fan passed out red, blue, and yellow sticky notes across the arena, assigning each color to a respective section level. By placing the piece of paper over your phone’s flashlight, a mini-light-ray visible from a distance would be shined.
Gray noticed the beams of light and commented after the songs completion, “Whoever did that…y’all gonna make me cry.”
The room was back to shimmying for the encore consisting of “Maniac,” “Bourgeoisieses,” and “Alley Rose.” How unfamiliar a word such as “Bourgeoisieses” made for a discotheque banger left me puzzled on how Gray’s brain must be wired to have pieced this masterpiece together.
Heaven was most definitely found! Gray’s stellar performance was a breath of fresh air to see so much artistic variety in just one night. After this concert, I can now declare myself as the latest member of the Conan Gray fanclub. Until next time, Found Heaven World Tour!
