Last night on December 10 at 8 p.m. EST, Johnny Orlando began the final concert of his It’s Never Really Over Virtual World Tour. It consisted of 13 tour dates, each of which was a one-hour, full production show from Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall.
See the tour dates below.
The tour is named after his second EP that was released in October. The intimate digital fan experience gave fans the special chance to hear him perform the sophomore EP for the first time ever. Fans also received a special collectible for attending. It’s a designed ticket that includes your concert date, the amount of tickets, and your personal ticket number. It could be saved to Apple Wallets or downloaded directly to your devices.
See the collectible below.
We had the opportunity to attend the final night, which was the USA leg of the tour. One thing we recognized was how his voice had matured since his previous performances. He was more in tune with his raspier and lower voice that left his fans swooning in the comments. With this maturity came more control over his pitch and transitions, and it showcased his growing range.
One song that really showed his voice maturity even compared to the recorded version was “Phobias,” which was released as a single in February. It is about his fear and paranoia of falling for someone because he’s scared of a broken heart. Sharing why he his walls are up and his struggles to let people in so vulnerably made for an emotional performance.
See the music video below.
Another powerful moment was when he sang one of his older songs “Piece Of My Heart” from his debut EP Teenage Fever from 2019. Orlando literally gave a piece of his heart to his fans in this performance, which was much different than the original sound. Instead of the usual pop/EDM sound, he did more of rock ballad during the concert. This song showed a lot of talent for his ability to deliver the song in a new way through changing note patterns and pitch. We loved how his tone got raspy and then fell off at the end of some of his notes. It gave a different texture to the song that would be nice to hear in the recorded version from the EP.
Our favorite of the night was “Adelaide.” We had unfortunately not heard the song before last night, but really appreciated the beat-led chorus that leaned toward an R&B sound. The song had a different vibe then much of his other music by straying from the EDM-like chorus he teeters to often. We appreciated the new depth to his music by creating something new and fresh compared to the rest of his discography.
Fans seemed to particularly enjoy this performance, too, as it caused a frenzy in the comments. Many people were talking about the meaning behind the words, saying the song is about someone Orlando knows who is with someone else, but still leading him on. The lyrics “You could have spent your love on anyone/But you wasted it on/But you wasted it on him/…You might be with him but I know who’s next/’Cause you’re leading me on” attest to this, but there is no way of knowing if it is a personal story through the lyrics.
See the music video below.
The night also included his most popular song to date, Gold-certified “What If (I Told You I Like You)” with Mackenzie Ziegler. It gained 109 million global streams and over 21 million YouTube music video views in under a year. He even re-released the song this past May due to its major success.
See the music video below.
Orlando ended the night with his most popular single from It’s Never Really Over. “Everybody Wants You” is about his jealousness when other people talk to the person he likes. The longing for your crushes attention is something I think everyone can relate to, which makes this song so fun and easy to like. It was the perfect way to end the night for its easy chorus to sing along with and power guitar moments that helped reach the climax of the finale. The lights flashing and moving to the beat behind him also helped build the experience to make it a mic drop ending. In fact, all through the night, the stage design was a stand out. Even though it was simple, the lights and colors made It picture-worthy to the point that fans were commenting “rip to my camera roll.”
If the event taught us anything other than Orlando is an extremely talented songwriter, vocalist, and performer, it’s that he has a great ability to bring people together. Many fans were bonding in the comments through sharing their opinions on the songs, social media handles, and where they’re from. It was a great way to bring people together, especially while missing live music and shows. Even though many watchers wished the show was in-person, he made the virtual tour engaging to where it felt like you were there with him. We’ll be making sure to see him live when shows are back!
Listen to the EP below.
Stream It’s Never Really Over on Spotify and Apple Music.
Follow Johnny Orlando on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Read his May 2019 feature and issue.
Purchase a paper copy of his issue here.
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