In a year in which Wallows, Olivia Rodrigo, Troye Sivan, Charli xcx, and many other members of the millennial / Gen-Z class of artists have made their MSG headline debuts, it was only fitting that Conan Gray, an active and essential artist in the culture, do the same. His newest record, ‘Found Heaven,’ was just the launching pad he needed.

Stream: “Never Ending Song” – Conan Gray

The girls and gays were out in full force last Monday night for Conan Gray’s sold-out show at NYC’s iconic Madison Square Garden, as part of his Found Heaven Tour.

Opening act Maisie Peters, on promptly at 7:30 p.m., very nearly packed the room herself. Her set was made up of a plethora of tracks from her breakout album The Good Witch (2023), including “Body Better,” “You’re Just A Boy (And I’m Kinda The Man),” and “The Band and I”, a somewhat passable cover of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero,” and select pre-Good Witch tracks, such as “Blonde” and the stellar “John Hughes Movie.” Her live tone is significantly less grating than her studio tone, the latter of which comes off as a satirical Disney princess.

She concluded her set with the intoxicating “Lost The Breakup,” a Carly Rae Jepsen missed connection done to perfection with a chorus so sticky… so effortlessly pop, it was destined to be played in an arena of this nature: “I’ll smile and you’ll have to face it/ I’m the greatest love that you wasted/ But, by then, I’ll be far away (uh)/ And OH SHIT, you lost the breakup!” Appropriately flexing with the edited bridge line, “I say, ‘I’m kinda busy like… I’m at MSG tonight!’” and joyfully galloping around the stage, Peters, an enigma of her generation, was right to take in her moment.

Found Heaven - Conan Gray — Found Heaven – Conan Gray

An in-between playlist of standard girly pop fare, including “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande, “Toxic” by Britney Spears, and “Kiwi” by Harry Styles kept the crowd occupied, but no singalong or half-hearted attempt at ‘the wave’ could have predicted the sheer volume of noise Gray’s fans would produce throughout the night.

Taking the stage promptly at 8:45, Gray’s opening pose, that of, but what else, a gay rock star, set the tone for the night and acts as one of the primary themes of the production (and a minor subplot of Found Heaven itself).

Opening with Found Heaven cuts “Fainted Love” and “Never Ending Song,” Gray’s vision of what the modern-day queer industrial pop and new wave star, influenced by that of acts like Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys, could look like, had come to fruition. A sold-out room of his fans came to play, roaring with approval mere notes into each song.

“Never Ending Song” is monstrous in a live setting, and Gray octave jumps in its latter half without breaking a sweat as he jogs, jumps, and bounds across the stage. As he did this, he remained generally vocally consistent, but lost his pitch and control during moments of “The Exit” and “Winner,” though, somehow, kept it clean for the egregiously difficult “Eye Of The Night.”

It could be argued that Gray failed to match the aura of Madison Square Garden’s notable lineage of esteemed rock n’ roll performances, denying many of the new wave-style songs the opportunity to flourish outside of their studio recordings. An additional 45 seconds of added musicianship, a go-around of a final chorus, or a vocal and/or instrumental breakdown of “Never Ending Song,” “Boys & Girls,” and “Lonely Dancers” would have added depth to the live versions of songs that, while incredibly fitting for the room, lacked that extra push.

With that said, Gray sped through nine songs in the first thirty minutes, but padded the runtime considerably with a steady middle half. He tore into the affecting ballad “Family Line,” before sitting down with his guitar for “The Story” and the live premiere of unreleased song “Holidays,” set for release, in his words, “in a few weeks.”

Despite a lack of altered musical arrangements, Gray’s setlist, overall, was extremely well-executed. He showcased nearly every Found Heaven track and inserted most of his ‘greatest hits,’ including “People Watching,” “Astronomy,” and “Wish You Were Sober” in between the new blood. Noticeable omissions were “Disaster,” a focus single of 2022’s Superache, and “Comfort Crowd,” off 2020’s Kid Krow.

His main set closed with “Heather,” arguably a generation-defining tune, and certainly his signature, followed by the impactful “Memories,” an encore of past tours. While effective, it would have been an opportune moment to debut Found Heaven’s sweeping standout “Forever With Me,” in place of the latter.

After a quick fake out, he returned to the stage for his encore of “Bourgeoisieses,” the most authentic of the new wave tracks off Found Heaven, “Maniac,” untouched, and still in its chirpy electro-pop glory, and “Alley Rose,” Found Heaven’s most evident attempt at a pop hit under the guise of the new wave trope.

As his peers and friends of a similar class, including Tate McRae, Sabrina Carpenter, and Olivia Rodrigo, have made their way through MSG as of late for similarly sold-out shows, some of which seemed to be more highly publicized or anticipated, Gray’s MSG debut was meant to make a statement.

Though not without its faults, he played a thrilling show that was inviting to fans both new and old: A show that was sentimental, energetic, a nod to past, and a brief look to the future.

All in his relentless quest to edit the manuscript of what it means to be a ‘rock star.’

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