Way back in 2005 I attended my very first concert seeing the one and only teenage heartthrob: Jesse McCartney. Although I was only a rising second grader at the time, seeing Jesse sing “Beautiful Soul” was everything to me and not much has changed in that regard. Twelve years have passed since I saw Jesse McCartney for the first time, but his concert for Tulane Homecoming this week brought back all of the feelings that his various albums gave me throughout my childhood and teenage years. Despite the feelings being the same, a lot has changed with Jesse’s concerts in the last twelve years.
- One major difference between these two concerts is Jesse himself. In 2005 he was an 18 year old who had just made it big and was touring the country singing to his screaming fans, but in 2017 he is an adult singing to those screaming fans.
- The fans have also changed considering in 2005 it was mostly children who heard his songs on Radio Disney, like myself, with their parents and teenagers who couldn’t contain their excitement to see the biggest teenage heartthrob of the time. This time around, Jesse sang to the same fans who had grown up a little bit in the last twelve years and are now college students rather than kids holding their parents hands.
- As Jesse and his fans grew up, so did his music. His original Beautiful Soul album will always be a classic, but his more grown up music like “Leavin’” and “How Do You Sleep” also have become necessitates in any Jesse McCartney set list.
Although Jesse and his fans have grown up between my first and most recent Jesse McCartney concerts, some things never change. As his first breakout hit, Jesse obviously included “Beautiful Soul” in both concerts although he had a trick exit and played it as an encore this time around. In any case, whether I am 7 or 19, his concerts full of screaming fans and iconic songs will never disappoint.