Abigail Manbeck
Staff Writer
Ben Platt performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City for his Reverie USA tour.
Reverie is the name of his latest album. I was part of the Reverie tour VIP experience which was
extremely fun. We got to hang out with fellow fans, as well as enjoy light refreshments and hors
d’oeuvres. We also got to do crowd-free merchandise shopping. As part of the VIP, we were
gifted a tour bucket hat, a Reverie pin as well as a laminated lanyard, and a signed vinyl record.
The show started at 8 p.m. There was an opener for Ben’s show. The pop duo that opened for his
show were Aly and AJ. They sang a few songs which were really good. They sang one called
‘Potential Breakup Song’, which is one of their most popular hits. They also sang one new song
that was not released yet, which was really cool to hear. After their amazing set was finished, the
moment we were all waiting for, finally happened. The lights dimmed and colorful lights
appeared with the band members and backup singers. There was a track playing of ‘King of the
World’ part 1, and when that track was concluded, smoke came and clouded the stage, and there
Ben appeared on the big Madison Square Garden stage. There was a roar of cheers and screams.
I could not believe what I was seeing, it just didn’t seem real. I was only two rows away from the
stage, which is something that I never thought would be real. Being that close to Ben was just so
crazy. He then preceded to sing his first song which was ‘Childhood Bedroom’ which is the
second track behind ‘King of the World’ part 1. It is one of my most favorite songs, so I was so
excited for him to sing it. Ben gives a little background knowledge on each of the songs that he
performs, so it was nice to hear what the inspiration was behind them. He then preceded to sing
‘Leave My Mind’ which is the fifth song on his Reverie album. He killed the song. It was so
incredible to hear. After ‘Leave My Mind’, he sang ‘Happy to be Sad’ which is one of the most
popular songs on the album. That song is also one of my favorites and he definitely blew it out of
the park. It is incredible to see someone perform songs live, that you’ve listened to so many
times before. You could tell that he really does put so much energy, passion, and love into these
songs both on stage and off. He really does know how to perform. He sang a song called ‘Rain’,
which is a single from a little bit ago. That was a big hit, and I had a lot of fun dancing too. He
sang ‘Ease My Mind’ which is off his first album ‘Sing to Me Instead’. It is one of the most
beautiful songs, and he sang it so beautifully. Ben sang two Broadway songs as well, which were
absolutely amazing. He started his career on Broadway, so it was only right that he sang a few
songs. He sang a beautiful song called ‘She Used to be Mine’ from the musical ‘Waitress’, as
well as the song ‘The Wizard and I’, from the musical ‘Wicked’. He rocked both of those songs.
He choose those songs because the characters that sing them in the Broadway shows are the
characters that he always wanted to play but will never get a chance to. Then there was a little
break where the backup singers got a chance to shine, and they sang ‘King of the World’ part 2.
They were really good. Ben then came back on the stage and sang ‘I Wanna Love You But I
Don’t’ and my personal favorite ‘Chasing You’. For a lot of his songs, you could feel the lovely
beat pounding in your chest, which was cool, and it made you feel like you were really getting
the full experience of the show. Ben then sang a song called ‘Dance With You’, which he
brought his boyfriend Noah Galvin up on the stage, and danced with him. That was a big hit. He
brought Aly and AJ back up on the stage and they sang ‘Go Your Own Way’ by Fleetwood Mac,
with him. “Share Your Address’ from his first album was sung. He also sang a new, unreleased
song called ‘Monsters’ which he sat at the piano for. He sang Lady Gaga’s song ‘You and I’,
which you could tell he had a lot of fun with, being he laid on the stage for it. I thought it was
funny. He sang two more songs one from his first album, titled ‘Grow as We Go’, which he sang
sitting with his backup singers and his guitarist. He also sang ‘Imagine’ from his latest album.
Following the closing song ‘King of the World’ part 3. I didn’t know what to expect, but he
absolutely put on an incredible performance that was out of this world. I had the best time ever.
After the concert let out, I went to a different room, where the meet and greet took place. It was
only a 20-second meet and greet, but he was super sweet and very kind. It was definitely a
pleasure to meet him. I’m glad that I got the chance to do so.
