Review: Fans flip for acrobatic pop star Benson Boone in St. Paul

Why wait? If you’re known for doing acrobatics in concert, why wait till the encore? Or even after the first song?

Freshly minted pop star Benson Boone went for it a mere eight seconds after emerging onstage in St. Paul on Friday at the opening show of his first North American arena tour. He did a back flip — before he even sang a note.

By the end of the night at sold-out Xcel Energy Center, there were front flips, corkscrews, flips off grand pianos and back flips from a standing position.

All that training for the high school diving team paid off. So did his music lessons.

What a voice! With his four-octave range, Boone’s hyper-emotional voice could go from a breathy falsetto to a macho scream in an instant. He had an occasional crack that revealed vulnerability as well as a similarly effective quiver. So many tools in his vocal kit.

The uber-talented Boone put on an enthralling, often electrifying and especially energetic-for-a-ballad-heavy show, one of the more remarkable debut arena efforts by a newly crowned pop star.

Raised in a Seattle exurb, the Los Angeles-based Boone, 23, is equal parts retro and now, with classically crafted pop tunes and contemporary verve. He came across like an athletic Harry Styles wannabe with the showmanship of Freddie Mercury and almost as impressive a vocal range as the late Queen frontman. Almost.

Many of Boone’s songs are not gender specific; his lovers are addressed as “you.” That approach probably didn’t matter much to the crowd of 14,000 fans, many of whom were pre-tweens accompanied by a parent.

Wearing an athletic leotard and bell bottoms in his first act, the buff Boone didn’t showcase his six-pack abs like he did on the covers of his two hit albums. His initial outfit was white, with red and blue trim, in the spirit of his American Heart Tour, named for his 2025 album.

Later the heartthrob switched to a cerulean, abs-exposing ensemble, perfect for his galvanizing “Mr. Electric Blue,” which was Broadway-like in its changing movements and buoyancy before ending with Boone’s Elton-ish piano flurry. It was one of the night’s highlights.

Pacing was an issue in the ballad-dominated 1¾-hour set. Throwing in a cover of Coldplay’s lifeless “Sparks” followed by the sentimental, slow moving “Momma Song” (with home videos of Boone’s parents and his childhood) seemed a misstep.

The 22-song set list begged for more material with varied textures such as “Pretty Slowly,” with its stomp-clap-hey vibe of the Lumineers. Striking strategies such as flying over the crowd on a chandelier during the “Mystical Magical” boosted the excitement.

Exploding heart-shaped confetti during “American Heart” in the middle of the show clearly invigorated the crowd, but it might not have been the most prudent move to litter the stage — which sort of resembled a red banjo with a longneck and heart-shaped head — with confetti when the star was often essaying flips. Safety over show biz.

Maybe the piles of confetti on the end of the runway were partly responsible for Boone not sticking the landing on his back flip at the end of “Beautiful Things,” his biggest hit.

The newcomer was a confident and sometimes cocky showman. He knew how to preen like a hunky rock star as well as skip down the long runway with a sense of fun. He occasionally paused his frenetic movement long enough to shake hands with fans, accept friendship bracelets and autograph a cowboy hat tossed onstage.

Boone’s sense of fun trumped Coldplay’s now infamous “Kiss Cam” bit by employing a “Mustache Cam” to superimpose a mustache like his on the faces of fans on a giant video screen. No one was sheepish about seeing themselves with a suddenly hirsute countenance.

Although Boone shared backstories about a few songs, he did not offer an explanation on his much-memed lyric “moonbeam ice cream” from the recent hit “Mystical Magical.” There was not even a hint as to what it might mean. Maybe it’s simply the secret sauce on top of that voice, that body and those acrobatics.

Which is still high praise, especially for this stand-out newcomer.

Boone’s show marked the last concert ever at the 25-year-old Xcel Energy Center, which will change its name to Grand Casino Arena on Sept. 3. It was a pretty grand finale.