If you had told me three years ago I would be sitting at a Big Time Rush concert, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet, there I was, at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio for the boy band’s reunion tour on a warm July night.
The crowd that gathered was something else. It ranged from young kids to people who were old enough to have gone to their tours in the early 2010s, with a few people showing up in costumes referencing the boy band’s sitcom.
The show’s opening act was a bold move: TikTok star Dixie D’Amelio. However, she held her own to the surprise of much of the audience. She succeeded in energizing the crowd with her original songs and a cover of “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood.
Big Time Rush took the stage shortly after, beginning with songs “Windows Down” and “Music Sounds Better with You,” at which point the crowd erupted into cheers. After an energized performance and a bit of banter with the audience, the group then transitioned into a series of high-energy songs comprised of a mixture of their new songs and old fan favorites.
They then sat down and brought out a ukulele for a small jam session, performing bits of songs like “Watermelon Sugar,” “I’m Too Sexy,” and a bit of fanservice in the form of “Giant Turd,” a running gag from the show.
They transitioned into a series of slower songs, including “Worldwide.” At this point, each group member pulled a girl from the audience to bring onstage to sing with (one of whom was celebrating their 16th birthday).
The show then became much more energized again; each band member took off running through different parts of the crowd. Logan Henderson began running through the back of Blossom Music Center’s pavilion seating, where I was lucky enough to be. Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow and Carlos PenaVega all did the same, popping up in random places throughout the crowd.
After a few more songs, they brought out a boombox to play a few popular songs aside from their own, like Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” They then pulled out a cassette tape entitled “Big Time Rush Classics” before playing several of their songs from their first album, such as “City is Ours” and “If I Ruled the World,” in rapid-fire succession.
Their encore performance began only a few minutes after they left the stage, where they closed out the show with their sitcom’s theme song and fan-favorite “Boyfriend.”
Overall, despite their nine-year hiatus, their reunion show was great. They still sang and danced very well and showed off their biggest strong suit: crowd interaction. Throughout the show, they were cracking jokes, asking questions, encouraging people to hold up their signs and retaining a strong connection with the audience, even after almost a decade without performing.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Big Time Rush’s reunion tour was a big-time success.
