Eighteen-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer Tate McRae brought her 2022 North American Tour to Boston’s beautiful Royale nightclub last Friday. The night was filled with high energy and girl power, and it featured an all-female lineup.
Waiting in anticipation for McRae to perform, the audience kindly welcomed TikTok-famous singerGAYLE, who performed four of her songs. The crowd’s energy picked up when she sang her final song “abcdefu” (2021), and the audience chanted along to the popular song that has been trending on TikTok. Mimi Webb followed as the second opener. The English singer sang her hit songs including “Dumb Love” (2021), “Good Without” (2021), her newest single “House on Fire” (2022) and a beautiful cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” (2011), which the crowd sang back loudly. Both GAYLE and Webb watched McRae’s set from the balcony of the Royale and waved down to fans cheering for them.
Anticipation grew further as handlers prepared the stage for McRae to start her set. The crowd screamed when a large ‘T’ and ‘8’ were revealed behind the stage, and the adrenaline in the Royale spiked. The crowd cheered loudly as the music and lights started, and McRae and her two backup dancers appeared, starting the show with her song “stupid” (2020).
From the first moment, McRae spread her high energy by waving and smiling at fans in the audience and going up to the edge of the stage to be closer to them. She even took a fan’s phone and filmed herself from the stage. This first song set the mood for the rest of the lively concert.
Throughout the concert, McRae showcased her musical range. McRae delivered a variety of songs from slow ballads that highlighted her stunning voice to upbeat dance pop songs that allowed her to show off her talent as a dancer.
She performed songs off of her 2021 EP “Too Young to Be Sad” including “bad ones,” “rubberband,” “r u ok” and “wish i loved you in the 90s.” McRae also sang some of her early releases including “One Day” (2017), which went viral that same year after she posted a video of herself singing it on YouTube. She also performed her newer songs “feel like shit” (2021) and “she’s all i wanna be” (2022). McRae mentioned that she had announced her debut album earlier in the day on social media. She told the audience the debut album titled “I Used to Think I Could Fly” will be coming out May 27. She had a big smile on her face as the audience cheered and celebrated the announcement with her for a moment.
McRae also performed the popular song “You” (2021), an upbeat collaboration with Regard and Troye Sivan, as well as a cover of the song “Breakeven” (2008) by The Script. She told the audience that the song by The Script has always been very special to her and that she has always resonated with it.
Attendees impressively belted the singer’s lyrics at the top of their lungs and danced along throughout McRae’s entire set.
After a flawless performance of McRae’s most popular songs, fans were eager to hear more. Fans chanted for her to return to the stage for an encore. Shortly, the stage lights started to flicker and the music began again. McRae returned to the stage for one final song and ended her concert with “you broke me first” (2020).
Her impressive vocals and dancing pushed her stage presence over the edge. It was nearly impossible to look away. The concert was over quickly, and McRae’s fans noticed her appear on the balcony of the Royale directly after finishing her set. Fans cheered as she waved down. The concertgoers left the venue with smiles on their faces, humming the melodies to McRae’s songs.
