Review: Sold Out Kaseya Center Flipped for Benson Boone

"I'll probably do a few flips, maybe more than you'd like," Benson Boone said in a comedic prerecorded video that played a few minutes before he took the Kaseya Center stage a little after nine on Sunday night. And throughout his two-hour, twenty-song set, the pop star did quite a few flips. Frontwards, backwards, and consistently high up into the sky, his impossibly athletic aerial maneuvers delighted a sold-out crowd of screamers and sing-along-ers. 

Whatever you might think of the quality of Benson Boone's recorded music, no one in attendance at last night's show could deny that the 23-year-old is a master entertainer. From the opening flip that kicked off "I Wanna Be the One You Call", the mustached muscle man went all out in each and every song. Whether he was tickling the ivories of a piano, high-fiving his delighted fans, or telling a between-song story with the cadence and comedic timing of a preacher at a mega-church, this is a showman who commands attention unlike few pop stars of his, or perhaps any, generation.

The night started with an unlikely opener for a pop star in 2025. Elliot James Reay is Gen Z and British, yet somehow channels Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison as he croons 1950s-style rock backed by a bassist and drummer. Those who got to their seats early screamed for Reay when he did a convincing cover of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody," showing off his pipes. But those fans screamed much louder when Reay asked a couple of times, "Who's ready to see Benson Boone?"
This American Heart World Tour is Boone's first arena tour and does not skimp on production value. The stage took up the length of the floor. One side of the elevated stage was circular with stairs and ramps, the other side was heart-shaped with his initials of BB at the center. Both sides were connected by an extremely long, red-hued runway that Boone constantly ran back and forth as though he had a quota of steps that he needed to meet. There were fireworks and confetti that fell on the crowd. Pianos randomly popped up all over the place whenever he was ready to perform a ballad, only to vanish when their service was no longer needed. He sang "Be Someone" on top of a chandelier that floated around the arena fifty feet in the air.

But the most impressive special effect was, of course, those crazy flips. "Does anyone ever get scared I'm going to miss a backflip? Raise your hand if you're scared. It's always the Moms that are the most scared," he joked. There were plenty of moms who laughed, and daughters. The room was possibly 80 percent female, with one being so smitten with the headliner that Boone commented that someone had thrown a bra at his feet. But that was as racy as the night ever got. Instead, there were songs about losing someone you love and another about cherishing your mother.
A four-piece band of guitar, bass, drums, and keys backed Boone. At the end of "Take Me Home," guitarist Sus Vasquez was given time to shred, strumming her guitar behind the back of her head, stalling for time during Boone's one costume change, where he went from a black sleeveless vest ensemble to a similar costume in red. But the costumes, the instrumentals, hell, even the music were secondary in this show. You can get those ingredients at just about any concert. What makes Benson Boone stand out are those crazy, mother-anxiety-inducing flips. And no matter what he said in the pre-show video, you can't get enough of them.   

Setlist:

"I Wanna Be the One You Call"
"Wanted Man"
"Sorry, I'm Here for Someone Else"
"Man in Me"
"Drunk in My Mind"
"Slow It Down"
"Be Someone"
"Mystical Magical"
"Pretty Slowly"
"In the Stars"
"Let Me Go / There She Goes / Sugar Sweet"
"Take Me Home"
"Young American Heart"
"Mr Electric Blue"
"Car's Outside" (James Arthur cover)
"Momma Song"
"Love of Mine"
"Reminds Me of You"
"Beautiful Things"
"Cry"