Troye Sivan at Sony Centre

Photos by Katrina Lat

When I saw Troye Sivan two years ago at Rebel, I was easily the oldest person there and witnessed something I had not previously seen; when Sivan hit the stage, virtually every phone was up recording the proceedings. I took pictures of the crowd because it looked awesome but I couldn’t tell you much about that particular gig.

Fast forward to 2018 and the 23 year old South African based in Australia brought his critically acclaimed sophomore album, Bloom, to a very appreciative Sony Centre last night. I spotted at least a couple of folks older than I and even Sivan would go on to remark the lowering of the tone of hollering.

Opening with “Seventeen” off of Bloom, Sivan sang solo in front of a curtain to deafening screams from the audience. While Sivan injects the right amount of drama into his pop songs and live delivery, I am injecting absolutely no drama when I say deafening screams.

With a curtain drop, an elevated platform revealing four players elicited even more gusto from the crowd. Sivan worked the entire stage like a seasoned vet, stopping in spots to deliver some thrusty hip moves to the delight of the enthralled crowd. The sound was crisp and the lighting never dominated the proceedings, working as the perfect accompaniment to the star of the show.

Sivan was very engaging with the crowd. He indicated he had more family living in Toronto than anywhere else, some in attendance. Later he brought up a dashingly dressed audience member who elicited laughs by detailing his bargain priced outfit. Sivan also shared the spotlight with his band and seemed very comfortable doing so, but the real star for everyone was the man bouncing about the stage with endless energy.

The bulk of the 90 minute set was devoted to Bloom and the crowd had enough time to digest the album to know every lyric and was more than happy to sing along for the entire night, but a healthy selection from his debut, Blue Neighbourhood, was played.

Highlight included “Heaven”, “Lucky Strike”, a fantastic romp through recent single with Charli XCX “1999” and ending the set with “Dance to This” and “Animal”, declaring them the last tracks of the night, but behold he as back for a couple of songs, ending the night but getting everyone in the party vibe with “My, My, My”.

Quickly, Sivan has transitioned into a bona-fide pop star. With a critically acclaimed album and its fabulous live presentation, it shouldn’t be long for everyone else to catch up to those hoarse or partially deaf this week already know.