It’s summer 2025. I’m driving through Rhode Island with my friends, absolutely loving life. Music is blasting in the car as we approach the beach, but one song keeps lingering in our minds. Its insistent “moonbeam” falsetto has attached itself to our brains like a parasite.
Doesn’t Benson Boone make music for 12-year-olds?
That was my thought a year ago, but I’ve since learned that life is too short to pretend you don’t enjoy the music you like.
Boone’s song “Mystical Magical” is objectively a little goofy, but its genuinely enchanting aura charmed even my cynical heart. In a world of chaotic politics, music can offer an escape from reality, even if only for two minutes and 45 seconds. When I think of Benson Boone, I think of one of the greatest trips of my life with the friends who mean the most to me.
This past spring, I found myself wondering what had been the song of summer 2025. I thought of rising pop stars such as Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, and even Charli XCX, but much of that buzz had peaked the year before. The euphoria of screaming “moonbeam ice cream” started as a running gag among my friends, but the song quickly came to define a summer of uncertainty and new beginnings.
Boone launched his Wanted Man Tour in Pittsburgh on July 7 and made its second stop at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena the following evening. The audience consisted largely of preteens and children accompanied by their parents, so I did feel as though I should have been supervising a child. Instead, I brought the friend who had sung every word of “Mystical Magical” while we drove through Rhode Island.
The arena was bathed in blue light as we waited for the performance to begin. Normally, waiting for a headliner can feel unbearably long, but the 30-minute break was filled with crowd singalongs to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Africa” and “drivers license.”
Finally, the blue lights faded to black, and a series of Star Wars-style title cards appeared on the screen, introducing Boone as the “wanted man.” He rose from beneath the stage dressed in denim on denim and sporting athletic sunglasses.
Boone opened with “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” from his 2025 album, American Heart. The explosive pop song steadily builds toward the kind of soaring vocal belt that has become Boone’s signature.
Watch Benson Boone perform “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” live for Capital’s Summertime Ball 2025 on YouTube:
“Mr Electric Blue,” another theatrical track from American Heart, highlighted both his vocal ability and his skills at the piano. Boone glided along the stage’s massive catwalk, interacting with fans from every angle. He pounded away at the piano and briefly teased the opening chords of Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” before seamlessly transitioning into “There She Goes,” from his 2024 debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades. The song concluded with a glorious solo from touring guitarist Sus Vasquez.
Boone then made his way to the end of the catwalk, where a circular platform bearing his “BB” initials rose from the stage. He welcomed everyone to the second night of the Wanted Man Tour and began the title track with the proclamation, “Let’s have a good night.” The song opened with bombastic drums and a bouncing bass line.
“Now, Baltimore, let me ask you a question,” Boone said. “Have you ever strongly disliked somebody?”
The crowd erupted, including one particularly deep “Yeah!” from somewhere behind my section.
Boone explained that he didn’t enjoy the feeling, but that sometimes you meet someone you simply don’t vibe with. He turned that experience into “Drunk in My Mind,” which he began at the microphone accompanied by acoustic guitar. Like many of his songs, it grew into a theatrical power ballad. Boone hopped down into the crowd and serenaded fans along the barricade before returning to the piano for “Slow It Down,” beaming throughout the performance.
Finally, the moment my friend and I had been waiting for arrived. The edges of the stage lit up, and the jaunty opening notes of “Mystical Magical” began to play. The music suddenly slowed and distorted, as though someone had stopped a record player.
“Oh no, don’t do that to me,” my friend said.
Boone playfully responded from the stage: “Oh, you know that song?”
He began the signature “moonbeam” falsetto and let the audience carry the rest of the chorus.
“All right, hit it!” Boone declared.
The performance felt euphoric and, dare I say it, mystical and magical. We rode that high for the rest of the concert and well afterward.
During “Pretty Slowly,” the lyrics to the bridge appeared on the screen, encouraging fans to belt them out. Boone disappeared and reemerged atop what I initially thought was a cross, until I realized it was actually a chandelier. The structure traveled above the audience as he performed the 2022 ballad “In the Stars.” Later, “Young American Heart” was accompanied by copious amounts of red, white and blue confetti, which Boone gleefully skipped through onstage.
Watch the official lyric video for “Young American Heart” by Benson Boone on YouTube:
After a brief intermission featuring more Star Wars-style text, Boone returned in leather and performed several slower, more emotional songs from the end of the catwalk.
Among them was an unreleased song titled “I Will Do Anything.” Thousands of phone lights swayed throughout the arena during the heartfelt piano ballad. The circular platform then rose again for “Momma Song,” as childhood videos played on the screen behind Boone in tribute to his mother.
Boone climbed onto the piano and noted that concertgoers sometimes shout very nice things at him — as well as some very absurd things.
“I listen to these things,” he said. “I’m not an idiot, at least for the most part. But I listen, and I’m watching.”
For a moment, I thought he was about to address some of the unnecessary hostility he receives online simply for existing. Instead, Boone recalled hearing the same song request screamed repeatedly during his previous tour. Fans requested it so often that he decided to bring it back: “Before You,” one of his earliest singles.
You have to respect an artist who gives the fans what they want.
Boone also asked the crowd to applaud his band. Speaking about his drummer, Brook, he said, “He’s a wonderful human. He keeps us all grounded. He’s literally perfect. And it’s his birthday today.”
The arena responded by singing “Happy Birthday.” Boone and Brook hugged onstage, and as the musicians returned to their places, a little girl behind me screamed, “I love you, Benson Boone!” It was possibly the sweetest moment of the night.
Boone introduced his new single, “The Time of My Life,” by discussing the bittersweet feeling of missing someone who is no longer part of your life, whether because of death, a breakup or simple distance.
“You’re doing something great. You’re doing something you love. You’re having the time of your life, and you think of that person and you miss that person,” Boone said. “When you feel like you truly miss someone, it means that you felt something that is truly special. Even though it hurts sometimes, even though it sucks sometimes — and no pun intended here — that is such a beautiful thing.”
The song unironically brings tears to my eyes. It is genuinely heartfelt and bittersweet, just as Boone described it.
Boone’s penultimate performance was “Cry,” from Fireworks & Rollerblades. He once again hopped down in front of the barricade to high-five fans.
“You guys have amazing energy,” Boone told the audience. “Thank you for bringing it tonight. But we ain’t done yet!”
Watch the official lyric video for “Cry” by Benson Boone on YouTube:
The grand finale was “Beautiful Things,” Boone’s 2024 breakout hit. The song begins with a steady build before a pulsing guitar riff sends it exploding into its booming chorus. During one chorus, fireworks erupted as sparks rained down from the chandelier above the arena.
Boone dropped to his knees beneath a single spotlight, drawing out the final chorus. He slowly rose and scream-sang “Baltimore!” before delivering the closing line: “These beautiful things that I’ve got.”
He sealed the performance with one of his signature backflips and gallivanted around the stage, taking his bows. Boone completed one final victory lap along the barricade before flipping into oblivion.
