Big Time Rush• Spencer Sutherland• August 18, 2022• USANA Amphitheatre
Reviewed and Photographed by Josilyn Wakkuri Lybbert
Big Time Rush & Spencer Sutherland brought the Forever Tour to Utah. And it sold out USANA’s pavilion seating on Thursday, August 18th! For the second to last show on the tour, fans donning Big Time Rush T-shirts or particularly dressed up for the occasion flooded into the amphitheater. Many of them had homemade signs under their arms with the hope of catching one of the performer’s eyes! It was the perfect night for an outdoor concert – not too hot, not cold, and, thankfully, no rain!
Spencer Sutherland
From the second Spencer Sutherland stepped onto the stage, you would’ve thought that he was the headliner based off of all of the screaming that began immediately! I don’t think that I have ever seen a crowd so excited for an opening as they were for Spencer! He kicked off the show with his song, “Tell Me,” and most of the crowd sang along with him.
Sutherland was very interactive with the crowd. He made his way back and forth across the stage, and he greeted fans along the way! For Spencer’s third song, he played a tremendous cover of Elton John’s hit song, “Benny and The Jets”. His rendition of it and his voice really amplified the song, and the crowd loved it! Following that song, Spencer said that he’s been to Utah twice and Salt Lake is a 10/10 city! He asked the crowd if they liked Hannah Montana, which was answered by lots of cheering from the audience! Later on, he announced that he would not be singing a Hannah Montana song. But he would be singing his song, “Indigo”.
But, part way through, “Indigo,” the song transitioned into, “The Climb”, by Miley Cyrus! The crowd was ecstatic about that! Spencer also sang his newest release, “Everybody,” which is an uplifting song that encourages people to be unapologetically themselves. After a few more songs, Spencer’s time on stage came to an end. It’s safe to say that the crowd thoroughly enjoyed him and his music!
Big Time Rush
There is always cheering at concerts. Concerts are always loud. But, there is a certain kind of noise that comes along with a boy band crowd. And oh how I had unexpectedly missed it! Growing up as a big boy band fan myself, I felt right at home with the excited fans. Even though Big Time Rush wasn’t a band I had followed closely in the past.
A big curtain displaying the name of the band was hung at the front of the stage. The crowd chanted, “Big Time Rush!” over and over until the curtain fell. When it dropped, there was so much screaming and everyone jumped up on their feet! The band members of Big Time Rush were epically positioned on large steps before running down to the base of the stage to kickstart the show! I was immediately impressed with their dance moves, most of which were pretty synchronized which was fun and not something you see a lot of anymore!
I noticed that from the first song, there was a group of thrilled fans on stage that got to catch the first bit from that point of view. For a music lover, there’s nothing more special than getting to be up close to a band or artist that you love, so I could only imagine how awesome that was for those fans! Little did I know, that was just a glimpse of how much attention and care that Big Time Rush showed those in attendance!
A few songs in, they played their newest single, “Dale Pa’Ya,” which was released that night! It was a fun “Spanglish” song, as they called it. They even taught everyone a little dance to do during the course, which was met with full participation from the crowd! The band then took turns throwing shirts into the sea of people, which heightened the excitement even more!
Following that, they had a question and answer time with the crowd! The first person to ask a question was from an eight year-old named Gunner. It was his first concert ever and he wanted to know if they all shared the same tour bus. They said that Kendall, James, and Logan all shared a bus, and Carlos, his wife, and three kids share a bus!
The next question was from a girl asking if she could sing a song with them. The band brought her up on stage, along with another girl. They both had Down syndrome, and they passionately sang their hearts out to the song, “Stuck,” with the band! It was such a sweet moment to witness! I had seen one of the girls before the show talking about how excited she was for the concert, so I was extra happy to see that she was able to go up on stage!
Throughout the show, the lights were constantly changing. The lights looked especially cool when smoke was added to the mix! And just when I thought the visuals couldn’t be any more fun, they sang, “Confetti Falling,” which, as you may have guessed, meant that confetti did indeed start falling! Many fans could be seen picking up pieces of confetti off of the ground as a unique souvenir to take home.
All four members of Big Time Rush members were so talented! Their voices were so clear and strong for the entire show! Whether they were singing their songs from over a decade ago, newer songs, or even cover songs! No matter what they were singing, the crowd was so enthusiastic and absolutely loved every second! “This one is my favorite!” could be heard over and over again throughout the night.
When it was time for them to sing, “Worldwide” Big Time Rush brought four people on stage – one for each band member to serenade! One of the people had gone to eight of their concerts, and another had been to thirty-four of their shows! Those four fans on stage had the time of their lives, and it was clearly a very special moment for all of them!
Not long after that, all of a sudden Logan was missing on stage. He was in the crowd! I thought that that was pretty cool, but seconds later, the other three band members were making their way into the crowd, too, which was so awesome! A fan’s dream come true! People quickly flooded the rows to get closer to the band walking by. It was so fun to see the joyful pandemonium rippling throughout everyone there! They sang a few songs amongst the crowd and headed back to the stage!
They finished the night with a few more of their songs, a few more cover songs, and an encore of the theme song from the Nickelodeon show, “Big Time Rush,” and another hit, “Boyfriend.”
A woman sitting next to me, that had brought her daughter and granddaughter to the show, turned to me and said, “I think I became a fan tonight,” which is how I felt too! It was one of the most wholesome, fun shows I have ever been to. The members of Big Time Rush made it a point to show how much they cared for their fans, and they did that multiple times throughout the night. On top of being so talented, they were also incredibly kind, and that made the night!
Big Time Rush and Spencer Sutherland brought great music, entertainment, and personalities to USANA Amphitheater. Both sets were filled with encouragement and talented performances, and the members of the audience surely left feeling even happier than when they arrived!