Joshua Bassett: The Tour Review- NYC Night 2

Joshua Bassett.. now that name may sound familiar to some but for those who are not familiar with it, Joshua Basset is mostly well-known for his lead role in DisneyPlus+'s Hit Series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series starring as Richard "Ricky" Bowen. Not only is he an actor but Bassett is also pretty popular when it comes to singing and writing his own music with hits such as his first single Common Sense and his most recent one, Smoke Slow.

This past May, Joshua announced that he would be going on his first ever tour, hitting major cities across North America such as Toronto, New York City and Los Angeles, California. Although some scheduling conflicts resulted in him having to cancel majority of the dates, I had the opportunity to catch him at Night 2 of his NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom.

Even though we were told by security there was no opening act when we asked, we were not disappointed by the talent that Lindsey Lomis displayed throughout her 30 minute set. Lomis's set was compiled of her own songs along with a cover of Harry Styles' hit single Watermelon Sugar. About five minutes into her performance though, fans started screaming for security due to a fan in the crowd becoming anxious from the overcrowding and pushing girls to the point where they had passed out and security. Lomis stopped her set and asked for the crowd to take a few steps back and then waited to resume until the fan at question was okay and taken care of.

During this set, fellow HSMTMTS co-star, Saylor Curda who plays Maddox aka "Gadget" and Dear Evan Hansen star Andrew Barth Feldman were spotted on the balcony of the venue watching from above the crowd and interacting with fans down below.

By the time Lomis' set was completed, there were about 30 minutes left until the star entered the stage. Bowery was filled with anticipated fans of the musician and parents and when asked by Lomis "Who is ready for Joshua Bassett" the already loud venue was then filled with roars from the 400+ screaming fans.

9pm. That is the exact time in which the lights went off for the last time and we were met with a band, a room full of screaming fans and in just mere seconds.. Joshua Bassett. He started off the night with his song Feel Something. Based off of the energy of the crowd within the first song, you knew that Joshua Bassett's fans were not here to play when it came to showing their support for the musician. The night was filled with the crowd singing so loud to points where the singer/songwriter was not to be heard even with a microphone.

Although most of the night was filled with upbeat songs and dancing, there were moments where Bassett stopped the show to talk and get serious. One of these moments was during his speech right before he sang his song Lifeline. During this speech, Bassett talked about his experience back in January of 2021 where he was admitted into the hospital for heart failure and septic shock where he was also told he had 12 hours to live. After finding out this news, he said that the first thing he did was call his mom and that she was on a plane to him within the next hour. Lifeline is a song dedicated to his mom who is as stated in the song title, his lifeline.

In the midst of his setlist, Bassett also happened to throw in two covers in between his original songs, One of these being Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved and the other was mixed into a mashup of his original song / most recent single Smoke Slow and Goo Goo Dolls' hit song Iris.

Before leaving the stage, the singer gave a speech to his audience of younger fans to spread love and kindness because "it does matter" and then going on to singing All in Due Time. After walking off the stage, because of what the audience thought to believe was "the last song", the room was then filled with chants of the entire venue going "ONE MORE SONG" repeatedly for 30 seconds.

The chants then turned to screams again when we were once again met with the star of

the show coming back out and saying "ohh alrighttt" and laughing. He then went on to doing another speech on treating people with kindness before singing his song (and my personal favorite) Set Me Free and thanking his fans one more time before stepping off stage.

From the minute you walked into Bowery, you could just feel the energy from the amount of love that everyone shared for the singer. The crowd was engaged with dancing (and crying at points) throughout the show and there was not one second in which they were not singing along to every song.

For this being Joshua Bassett's first tour, he really knew how to keep the crowd engaged and entertained from the second he stepped on stage until the second he stepped off. From his singing to his instrumental abilities, he is sure a force to reckon. If you ever have the chance to see him in concert, please do. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this singer/songwriter.

Bassett is also set to release his third EP titled Sad Songs in a Hotel Room on September 23, 2022. Be sure to check it out!

Lots of love,

Halina <3