EVERYONE’S A STAR tour
Madison Square Garden
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
JUNE 14th 20266
5 SECONDS OF SUMMER
★
5 SECONDS OF SUMMER ★
Everyone’s a star! That’s the message 5 Seconds of Summer, or 5SOS, are currently spreading on their highly anticipated summer ‘26 tour.
I had the absolute privilege of attending night 2 of 5SOS’s weekend run at the one, the only, Madison Square Garden. Between beach balls bouncing around the pit, to Spider-Man making an appearance on stage, these four self proclaimed “cool dads” certainly know how to keep a crowd eating out of the palms of their hands.
From start to finish, the energy inside the venue was high and loud. The night began for me as most nights inside MSG do, with a hot dog and high hopes. Much to my expectations, the pop-punk Australian boyband definitely delivered on those hopes. From the moment I stepped out of Penn Station, I saw star themed attire and enthusiasm so strong. The line to get into the pop-up merchandise store was longer than the line for the show itself!
From the minute they stepped on stage, opening the show with a fan favorite, “NOT OK”, 5 Seconds of Summer had the whole crowd feeling like a star. Tossing picks to fans with signs and acknowledging certain fan’s outfits (which they probably spent days working on) were just some of the many ways the band made audience members feel seen.
Around the halfway point of the show, a VIP holder who had been randomly selected before the show would soon get to live the scenario that every young fan daydreams about in math class. They were brought on stage to present a “Boyband of the Year” trophy to the band, while exchanging hugs and congratulations. Truly an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives.
In addition to the trophy fan interaction, another ticket holder gets randomly selected at every show to open the briefcase on the big screen that reveals the fan voted secret song of the night. For our night, the options for fans to vote on in a pre-show poll were “Don’t Stop”, “Try Hard”, “Start Over”, and a cover of Wheatus’ “Teenage DIrtbag”. The winner of the night went to “Try Hard”, much to the fans’ delight.
Throughout the night, 5SOS had various ways to make sure the crowd stayed engaged from start to finish. Whether it was throwing the blow up dolls of the band members into the crowd, or walking through the barricades to get up close and personal with everyone, there was not a moment where you could look away and not miss something exciting or noteworthy.
For the encore songs, a still unknown team or crew member came out dressed as Spider-Man because, when in NYC! It truly encapsulated the energy of the whole night in a nutshell. I saw more dancing and people having genuine fun at this show than I have at a concert in a pretty long time, and as someone who goes to a lot of concerts, that stuck with me. An artist having the ability to get people to drop their phones and just have fun while being in the moment is, to me, a super power in the current social media climate we live in.
New York brought the absolute most for 5SOS, between outfits and signs to barricade energy and friendship bracelets. I have seen Michael Clifford, Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings and Calum Hood rock the stage many times before, but this one is the one I’m going to remember for a very long time.