Charlie Puth comes to Boston on his “One Night Only” tour. The singer is visiting 12 different cities around the globe to introduce his new album “Charlie” to the world.
Different to previous albums, most of the songs in “Charlie” were out previous to the album release date. Charlie shared his creative process through the platform “Tik Tok”, where he created a collaborative environment with his fans. This allowed him to receive instant reactions and inspiration in a time where real life interactions weren’t possible. He expresses that one of his pursuits is to show that music can be created from anything and by anyone. He proves this in his album as he utilizes common sounds like doors closing and light switches, and then transforms them into the well-known pop sound that the singer is famous for.
The crowd goes wild as Charlie joins the stage, starting the night with his song “Charlie Be Quiet!”. The singer is dressed as Tom Cruise in the movie Risky Business. He is sporting a white button-up shirt and red boxers only. The day before the show, Charlie tweeted “Everyone dress up tomorrow night…thank you”. As requested, fans show up to the venue dressed up in all kinds of Halloween costumes, a lot of them making reference to the songs in his new album.
Charlie shares with the crowd that while writing the album he wondered how an album that encapsulates both happy and sad feelings would sound. In many of his new songs, you can identify the juxtaposition of these two feelings. In “That’s Hilarious” he writes about a failed relationship, expressing a great sense of frustration and grief; however, the song presents a very upbeat and happy melody. The singer presents a humorous and sarcastic approach to a hard situation, almost offering the listener a well-needed recipe for tough times. The fans cheer him on as he sings “Loser”. In this song, Charlie plays on the words “Loser” and “Lose her”, creating a song you will want to have on repeat when experiencing any kind of heartbreak. The singer shares that classic love ballads like “You’re the Inspiration” by “Chicago” inspired the song “Stay”, a song he wrote and produced for Kid Laroi. Charlie performs a ballad version of the song for the fans at the Orpheum Theater and the crowd sings along with him.
The hits that gave the singer worldwide recognition were part of the night’s repertoire as well. Charlie sings “Suffer”, “One Call Away”, “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, and closes the night with “See You Again”, a song that was inspired by the loss of a close friend. Charlie writes this song imagining what the last text message to his friend would have been. The singer says his goodbyes and encourages his fans to keep working for what they love and want to pursue in life, as he reminds the fans of his own beginnings in the world of music.
The new album “Charlie” welcomes a new era in the artist’s life. The sound, lyrics, and overall essence of his new song “No Drama” are a good representation of what the energy of this show feels like. It is a great night to enjoy music, to dance, to reminisce on heartbreaks with a good sense of humor and to look towards the future with great optimism. The “One Night Only” tour gives us a last chance to experience the singer in such intimate spaces. There is no question that after this album Charlie will be filling up big arenas. It was such a pleasure to be part of this new start in the singer’s music journey. I think I can speak for all the fans when I say, we cannot wait for next year’s tour!
PHOTO GALLERY BY María José Torre
