The year is 2010 and a video of this young boy performing “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga is all over the internet. Greyson Chance rose to stardom at 12 years old following his viral cover. A few months later, the same boy released his first single “Waiting Outside the Lines” and it is also all over the internet. That’s when he first caught my attention. Almost-11-year-old me was smitten. What wasn’t there to like? He was cute, talented and nearly my age.
In 2011, Greyson released his first album titled Hold On ‘til the Night which I purchased and still have on my iPhone today. My love for him grew and grew. I followed him on all social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitter. Soon he had come to a halt in producing music and attended college. I checked up on him every so often when he posted a new Instagram story.
I had become more involved in other artists and their careers when one day on Twitter, I saw he had announced he was going on tour for his new album titled Portraits. He wasn’t coming anywhere near me, but I wanted to go so bad. One of my friends tweeted at him and said if he followed me that she would fly me to San Jose (the closest show) so I could see him. And he did. I was shook.
Unfortunately, the show was 21+ and I was only 19 at the time, so besides the obvious setback of not being able to afford a flight, I couldn’t have gone anyway.
A few months after that, Greyson announced a second leg of his Portraits tour. He also had a date in Minneapolis which aligned with the time I would be in Minnesota attending school. I have never bought a ticket so quickly.
After a long, long time waiting to see him live, the day finally arrived! My friend, Amanda, had won a contest through KDWB to see him perform at the Skyroom and meet him. We were seeing him twice in one day and I had purchased a VIP ticket, which also included a meet-and-greet, so I got to meet him twice in one day.
At the Skyroom, he performed three songs, one of which is expected to be on his upcoming album. He sounded phenomenal live and had such good commentary in between. When we got up to meet him, he was so kind and he wished us a good time at the show later.
Once our stomachs were full of Arby’s, we made our way to the venue downtown and queued up. We had to stand in different lines since I had a VIP ticket, and Amanda only had General Admission. When I finally made my way inside the warm building, I bought a T-shirt and began to wait by the stage. He came out shortly after and performed another song that he expected would be on his next album. He then had his manager put us in a line as he made his way to the front of the stage. I waited patiently once again to say hi. When it was finally my turn, I believe, as I walked up to him,I said something like, “Hello again!” and he replied, “Oh, good to see you darling!” as he pulled me into a hug. My heart melted. He asked me some questions about my tattoos, we posed for a picture and then we had to part ways again. I watched as he finished meeting fans, showing so much compassion and appreciation for everyone who came out to support him. Ugh, he was such a sweetheart.
Amanda finally joined me in the pit, and the stage people finished setting up the lights. I looked behind me and was shocked to see the once wide open floor, packed full of people from the front of the stage to the back wall. As the lights dimmed, screams filled the small room.
He came out in this beautiful outfit made personally for his tour. His jacket read “Portraits” on the back, in swirly, cursive font, and the front left side of it read “Greyson” in the same font. The backup vocals of his song “West Texas echoed from the speakers.
The rest of the concert went by in a blur of screams, flashing lights and one or two more outfit changes. His demeanor on stage was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He was so confident, even when he was doing an odd dance move, and he was strangely aggressive, which was almost a complete 180 to the sweet, caring boy I had observed earlier while meeting fans. It’s like he has a whole different persona on stage, and I was loving every second of it.
He sang with so much passion and spoke his gratitude towards all of us in attendance. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be streaming his upcoming album and attending a show (or two) the next time he’s touring. Also, I would highly recommend that everyone goes to a show if they have the chance.