Charlie Puth • Daniel Seavey • Ally Salort • May 9, 2026 • Maverik Center
Reviewed by Amelia Weyerstall
Photographed by Lauren Henwood / Maverik Center
The crowd was filled with people of all ages dressed up like Professor Puth, complete with shirt and tie for Charlie Puth’s Whatever’s Clever tour that stopped at the Maverik Center. The sold-out show was filled with excited fans who had known him from both his older songs and newer releases, and the energy in the room was electric. Not only did the crowd love Puth, but they also fell in love with opening acts Daniel Seavey and Ally Salort.
Ally Salort
Ally Salort stepped onto the stage in a black sparkly dress and, with her angelic voice, ready to perform for the Salt Lake crowd. Salort played to the crowd excellently, asking the crowd, “Utah how are we feelin tonight?” and “We got one more song for you, and then you get to see Daniel and Charlie Puth, give it up for my band really quick, this is Cole on guitar, Alec on drums, and I’m Ally Salort, this is called “I’ve Never Met her”” She warmed the crowd well.
The fans loved her original songs, especially the last one she played in her set, “I’ve Never Met Her,” which had a very dancey, pop feel to it. I can see that song blowing up on social media. Salort is definitely someone to watch for! The crowd also loved her song “Deeper Meaning” and “Finish Line,” both of which had people holding up their flashlights and swaying them to the beat. Salort also played an incredibly powerful cover of Iris by Goo Goo Dolls, which the crowd, of course, sang every word to, and showcased Salort’s vocal range even more.
Daniel Seavey
Daniel Seavey took the stage solo and started out by doing his signature looping of tracks to create the intro to one of his newest songs, “Blame It On You”. While building the song, Seavey asked, “Utah! How we doin’?” to which the crowd cheered, and Seavey seemed pleased with the response. Just as the song started to begin, the rest of his backing band came out to add to the song’s melody.
Seavey is notorious for using looping pedals and building out each of his songs live during his performances. Each song he creates will never be exactly the same as any other show he has or will play. Using multiple instruments, he builds each song one part at a time, and hearing the songs come to life is truly magical.
After finishing up “Blame It On You,” Seavey said, “Utah, how are we doing? For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Daniel Seavey. I am so excited to be here, but most importantly, who’s excited to see Charlie Puth!! This is a new one called “Time to Time.” The crowd loved this new song, going absolutely wild for it, and it had people jumping along to the beat. This wasn’t the only new song Seavey played; however, he also sang the unreleased song, “Love is a Gun,” to which the crowd clapped along.
Daniel Seavey is very unique in taking song requests from the crowds to loop live and perform, whether he knows the song or not. On this particular night, someone in the crowd shouted “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, which was very exciting due to the recent release of the MJ movie. This cover made the crowd who hadn’t yet heard of Seavey to absolutely fall in love with him.
Seavey also played some of his fan favorite songs, including “I Tried,” to which the crowd responded by lighting up the room with their flashlights, “The Older You Get,” which had people in the crowd teary-eyed, and of course “Sleeping With the Lights On,” to which the whole crowd was jumping along. The electric energy that Seavey has while performing hyped the crowd up and got them very ready for Puth.
Charlie Puth
Before Puth even walked out onto the stage, the crowd was losing their minds over the production of it all. The tall stage could be seen from every seat, the triangle lights that added to the mood, and the graphics that were on both the screens behind the stage, and to the right and left of the stage. During the show, each song had its own feel with the production.
To introduce Puth, his incredible backup singers and backing band consisting of members, Darek Cobbs, Brandon “Pastor Funk” Brown, Cedric CJ Thompson, Jan Ozveren, Livv, Lorea Turner, and Jaden Blakley Gray, introduced him out onto the stage in a singing monologue about how Salt Lake City should get ready to see Puth live. The band and singers added a new element to the show, making it seem like they were all just friends performing together and having a great time.
Puth then waltzed out onto the stage in his professor Puth outfit, looking like your favorite substitute teacher, to which he even made a comment, saying, “Don’t I look like the substitute teacher who’s going to half pay attention to the class right now? Do what you wanna do! (waved dismissively)” A girl in the crowd then shouted, “I love you” to which Puth responded by saying, “I love you too,” which made the girl shriek in excitement and almost collapse to the ground with how happy she was he responded to her, it was a very cute moment between Puth and his dedicated fanbase.
Not only did Puth play songs from his newer albums, but also some of his fan favorite older songs, to which he shared, “I’ve been very excited for this show, cause yall are notorious for showing up on a Saturday night. As I play the most mellow music right now, haha. I’m going to play some new songs, gonna play some songs that im fortunate enough to say that i started off my career with, that we all still sing to this day, the funny thing about music ladies and gentleman, is that its your own portable time capsule, you can write a song ten years ago, and ten years later it will mean something totally different, you remember exactly where you were in that time and what you were going through, that’s the power of art.” before playing LA Girls which was a huge hit with the crowd.
Puth of course played “Attention”, “How Long”, “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, “One Call Away”, and “See You Again”. The last has a special dedication to anyone who has lost someone recently, and that they are in the arena with them on that night, singing along. There wasn’t a dry eye in the whole crowd. It was a very sweet moment shared between Puth and his fans.
Charlie Puth is extremely talented and shows it on his socials, but it is completely incredible to witness his talent in person. The high notes, the perfect pitch, and showmanship create a show worth watching a hundred times over. Not only is Puth awe-inspiring to watch perform, but he also inspires others at his shows, saying
“When I wrote this one, it started out as one meaning, and now its evolved over time, my son is 7 weeks old as of yesterday, and the message I would like him to know as a man, its okay to cry, its okay to show emotion, there are so many bullsh*t things on the internet do this, A, B, C, D, thing and you’ll be the perfect person, you’ll get this record deal if you did X, Y, Z, nonsense, just be you. Don’t be afraid to show your emotions, put them on a color palette, put them into a film, put them into a piece of music, like we’re about to do right now. Don’t be afraid to express yourself, Salt Lake City,” before playing his song “Cry”. Everyone in the crowd had their flashlights up in the air, to which Puth called it “Beautiful”.
Before ending the night, Puth came to the front of the stage to take a bow and wave goodbye to the SLC crowd, who, of course, waved back with tears of joy and cheers.