Concert Review: Charlie Puth at the Moody Center in Austin

Review by Victoria Allen / Photos by Stephanie Tacy

As the sun began to set, fans camping near the entrances rushed in as doors opened at 7pm for Charlie Puth's Whatever's Clever! Austin show at the Moody Theater! For this stop of the tour, Puth had two incredible guest artists open for him - Ally Salort and Daniel Seavey. Thousands flooded the arena for the nearly sold out show!

Ally Salort was the first opener of the night, starting promptly at 7:30pm. She stepped out on stage sporting a gorgeous shimmering, navy dress. She opened her set with her most popular hit, "Pretty Face," which was amazing hearing Ally's spectacular vocals live. She also performed a beautiful cover of Goo Goo Doll's, "Iris" and I don't think there's a soul alive that doesn't love that song. Fans were pleasantly surprised to hear Ally's newly released song titled "Housekeeping."

To set the mood for her upcoming new song, Ally encouraged fans to flash their lights. The Moody Center glowed in a wave of lights as fans swayed with their phone flashes held high to "Proof." Proof is set to release on June 26th and is an emotional song with deep lyrics. 

As the flashing lights dimmed, Ally ended her set on the song, "I Never Met Her," which is a song about change and becoming a new person. With an upbeat melody and catchy lyrics, it was a big hit! The crowd roared in cheers and applause as Ally exited the stage. Overall, fans enjoyed her set and as someone not too familiar with her discography - I now have a bunch of new songs on my playlists!

After a brief intermission (SNACK BREAK!) Daniel Seavey followed Ally's set. Fans rushed to fill the space in front of the stage as Daniel's name flashed across the mega screen! Daniel is a total one man band and he showcased his ability to play multiple instruments on stage. The most impressive part of his set is the way he used a looper pedal to layer instruments and create songs live. He used this technique to perform his song "Blame It On You," which was wild to see arranged in real time!

Seavey performed one of his new songs, titled "Time to Time (Annie)." The song was followed with "I Tried" and the crowd chanted along to the opening of the hit song.  I had never heard the song but 10 seconds in, I knew it was going on my playlist!

Seavey is well versed in at least nine instruments. He was open to options from fans for a cover song and four songs were recommended: "Skinny love" by birdy, A song by the 1975, "Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran, or something by Taylor Swift. It came down to "Skinny Love" or "Castle on the Hill" and the latter won!  Using a phone a fan tossed up to remember the chorus, Seavey memorized and arranged his instruments to play "Castle on the Hill." The audience sang along to the last verse of the song creating this really beautiful moment. 

In the middle of his set, Seavey hopped off stage to sing "Love's a Gun" up close and personal with a fan at the barricades. The moment that was shrouded in a ray of flashing lights and fog - The fan girl was FAN GIRLING! He played quite a few hit songs and even reminisced about his time in Austin last year. He was here for ACL last time and went swimming in Barton Creek. He performed "The Older You Get" and had the theater filled with a wave of flashlights. Seavey closed his set by playing his most popular song, "Sleeping With the Lights On," which he sang with fans near the barricades. The stop was Seavey's final show with Puth. I thought Daniel's entire set was interactive and immersive! He was the perfect artist to hype up the crowd before Charlie Puth came to the stage.

The lights dimmed as September by Earth, Wind and Fire played, which immediately had the packed arena on their feet - The moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived! 

The mega screen changed to bright blue, clouds appeared and a choir style melody was sung on back up vocals creating a heavenly entrance for Charlie Puth.  He started the night off strong with "Beat Yourself Up" which is featured on his new album, Whatever's Clever! White lights began to flash on set as he went on to perform his popular 2017 single, "How Long." Charlie filled the space between songs with sweet anecdotes. 

Puth was pumped to introduce us to his new song "Washed Up," which has a very summer style tone. The entire melody is very relaxing and it feels like the perfect song for a beach day. 

Charlie went back and forth, playing many of his latest songs and mixing in some classic hits. He reminisced about being 25 in LA and the audience about all the trouble he got into from "messing with these LA girls." He jumped right into singing "LA Girls," which was released in 2018. He followed up another song from the Voicenotes album called "Empty Cups" - The hook in this song paired with the beat is insanely catchy!

Puth completely flipped the tone by surprising everyone with the heartfelt song, "Home." The unfamiliar tune had sweet, tender lyrics. I think this might be my favorite song from his newest album. The loving lyrics "you're the one that makes this house a home" sounded so beautiful when performed live. Puth had everyone in the theater singing along and it sounded ANGELIC!

Puth performed some additional new songs from his recent album. The first one was "Cry" - Puth said it reminds him of when Sting released his popular song "Desert Rose." Towards the end of the night he played "Love in Exile," which he wrote with Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. So many of his new songs have catchy hooks and very poetic lyrics. 

Charlie Puth filled the time in between songs with fun stories and shared some of his recent interactions with his pals in the music industry. Puth joked that he loved the crowd's outfits because they were giving showing up to work - The show was on a Thursday night so that checks out. Fans in Austin showed up and showed out in large numbers for Puth. He claimed "Austin was the best crowd on the tour so far!" Puth also teased an exciting new song by Benson Boone - So be on the lookout for that! One big message he wanted the audience to take away is that we are living in pretty crazy times and "the world needs art more than ever!" The sentiment really resonated with many people listening as there were quite a few aspiring artists in attendance.  

Several classic hit tunes were performed like "We Don't Talk Anymore" and "Attention," however there were some major moments that captivated the entire room. It started when he played a gospel style version of his 2018 song "Patient." The vocals alone were extremely impressive and as someone listening, it felt like I was transcending into heaven.  A couple songs later, Puth had the room raise their flashes high as he sang "BOY" and light illuminated the entire performance. There were several memorable moments from the concert. 

Charlie Puth ended the show, playing two of his ultimate classics along with one new gem. He began with "One Call Away," which was the 2016 hit that launched his music career sky high. He then transitioned right into "See you Again" and had the whole room singing along. You just had to be there - The entire theater was harmonizing and everyone felt so connected. Puth ended the concert with one newer song from latest album titled "Changes." 

As the show ended and everyone began exiting the arena, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears played over the speakers making the whole night feel like the end of an epic movie - Roll credits!

‍ ‍Whatever's Clever! released on March 27th of this year and is currently available on music streaming platforms. Fans around me agreed that his new album feels more deep and personal. It feels like Puth is returning to his roots with a series of new heartfelt, intentional songs. Texas wrapped up the US portion of Puth's world tour for his latest album. He is now headed to Portugal to kick off the international shows which start June 20th. It was such a memorable night and a fantastic show!~