Conan Gray’s Wishbone Tour:
Howdy Folks! This Wishbone Tour from Conan Gray and Esh Tewari opening was such an incredible time, and I can't wait to tell you all about it.
First up for the night, Esha Tewari eased into the night in a way that felt really fun, having the band members walk on one by one, till she walked out, softly whispered “one, two, three, four,” and slipped straight into “If We Got the Chance,” carried by a gentle, acoustic-leaning guitar strum. Her voice had that airy, almost weightless quality, something in the same lane as The Marías, and it set a calm tone before the chaos that would come later.
There were a couple of moments where the sound mix didn’t quite cooperate, however. The drums felt just slightly off, but it seemed like more of a room acoustics issue more than anything else, and some of the backing vocal tracks came through a little too echo-heavy. Honestly, the backing track felt unnecessary because her voice stands strong enough on its own. But when things clicked, they really clicked.
“You Were Mine” turned into a full crowd moment with phone flashlights lighting up the room, and you could see how much that meant to her. “Muse” got one of the loudest sing-alongs of her set, and the call and response during “Is It About Me?” pulled everyone in even more.
She closed things out in a really human way, mentioning it was her first time seeing snowfall, then winding down with a soft solo song saying it’s “just gonna be you and me, I hope that’s okay” before ending on “Beautiful Boy.” It felt intimate in a room that was about to become anything but. I hope to see her live again, i think she’ll really get more stage presence later and push the boundary on her music live!
Now, Conan Gray. If the crowd wasn’t loud before, holy cow when the shift from opener to headliner happened, it was immediate and dramatic. A swarm of sailors (the backup band) took the stage to the sound of instruments tuning, with this deep, rolling bass that felt more like a movie score than a concert intro. The screen lit up with the Wishbone World Tour visuals, and from there it just exploded.
ACT 1, “A Wish One Never Breaks Even,” started with a full cinematic push. Conan entered after a drum solo on a bike, in that signature blue sailor outfit, scanning the crowd like he was stepping into a character. The second the first song kicked in, the entire floor was jumping. Not exaggerating, the crowd screamed every lyric right back at him. It was honestly a little overwhelming!
The set itself was wild in the best way. It looked like a wheat field out in the open countryside, with a windmill he actually climbed mid-set just to wave out at everyone. The band behind him, an all-female lineup, looked like they were having just as much fun as the crowd, and it added a lot to the energy. “I Care” had the place moving nonstop, and even when it was hard to hear him over the fans, it almost made the moment better. That kind of volume only happens when people are fully invested in the musician they’ve been waiting and waiting to see! There were little production choices that stood out too. The vocoder on “Sober” sounded incredible live, and you could tell he was genuinely excited about this being opening night. Then everything flipped into:
ACT 2: “I Got the Short End of the Stick”- A bed rolled out, with Conan on stage, swapping into glittery pajamas (to which the crowd ROARED when they saw him in just a white tank top), and suddenly the show turned into something more theatrical. The start of this little bed routine led to him starting “Class Clown,” and somehow the energy didn’t drop at all. If anything, the crowd got louder. He made his way down to the barricade, had this really strong spotlight moment where he was front and center to the barricade fans with every spotlight on him, making for a really cool, magical look from afar.
He then shifted into the more stripped-back “Conan’s Campfire” section. Acoustic, more personal, and a moment for him to talk to the crowd, and giving him a chance to “sing the songs I don't normally get to sing for everyone on tour”. It was a really cute special moment, especially when he took the time to reach out to Minneapolis about the current happenings and how he feels for us here. It was a sweet moment with a few good sing-alongs, and wrap up to lead into ACT 3.
ACT 3, “I Took the Long Way to Realization,” leaned fully into the theatrical side of the show. The stage transformed into this wide lake scene, and then out of nowhere, a canoe appears with Conan in it, now in a completely new outfit. It felt a little surreal, in a good way. There was even a moment where he played with the camera from under the boat, almost breaking the fourth wall, which added a bit of humor to the whole thing.
This section had some of the biggest crowd participation moments of the night. Letting an audience member (shout out Jordan if you see this) pick the next song by splitting a massive wishbone with Conan for the chance to choose. However, the choices were between “Lookalike” and “Sunset Tower” and it wasn’t even CLOSE to being “Sunset Tower”. After that, Conan talked about a special someone to him, namely his hit song “Heather”. The opening note to this song was the loudest moment of the entire night, with the crowd exploding upon hearing it, just after Conan remarked “Heather, if you’re out there, I’m sorry. Except I'm not because this song is a bangerrrr!”. The cello and the violin strings being played throughout this song were incredible too, and the entire band was such a perfect accompaniment for the whole night.
One of the most impressive parts of the whole show came during the more emotional stretch. The song about his mother, “Family Line” felt almost like a Broadway-style solo, super direct, really focused, and the camera work amplified it perfectly. Then after, somehow, he’s back on the bed again, singing at weird angles which was impressive and showed the breath support, still completely controlled vocally while everything around him builds into this huge, chaotic musical moment, where the lights were flashing and going crazy into this rainbow fantastical experience. Then BAM, they were off, ready to go into our final act.
ACT 4, "“I Wished for Love and I Found It,” brought everything back to that countryside setting.
It kicked off with “Actor” and rolled straight through “Maniac,” “Vodka Cranberry,” and after the end of this set, into an encore of “Memories” and “Caramel.” By this point, the crowd hadn’t lost an ounce of energy. “Maniac” especially had everyone jumping again like it was the first song of the night, and i was honestly super impressed throughout the show of how intense a lot of the movement was for him on stage, being a constant moving energizer bunny!
During the act, he finally took time to introduce the band, giving each of them their moment, which felt deserved considering how much they added to the show, and again, each of them were incredible!
For opening night, it didn’t feel like something still being figured out. It felt fully realized. Big production, constant movement, and a crowd that was all in from the first second to the last. It was really special to get to see the full opening night of the tour and witness the start of a clearly massive tour, and while Conan isn't someone i normally listen to, if you like theatrics and big fun shows, definitely give him a shot next time he rolls around, I think I for sure will! I really loved the feel of it being like a movie almost, albeit a loud, interactive, and upbeat one!
