The Importance of Queer Voices: Conan Gray Takes Over UBS Arena
Skylar Quackenbush ‘29 and Brianna Litman ‘29
Photo by Brianna Litman ‘29
On Feb. 28, pop star Conan Gray performed at UBS Arena on Long Island, a venue with a 19,000 capacity. He took the stage at 9 p.m., but not before getting the crowd hyped with his pre-show playlist, including songs such as “Love Me” by The 1975 and “Dancing Queen” by ABBA. The final song played before Gray took the stage was none other than “Bad Idea, Right?” by fellow pop star and Gray’s best friend, Olivia Rodrigo.
With the knowledge that “Bad Idea, Right?” was the final song to play before the concert began, fans rose from their seats to sing along to Rodrigo and take the next minute to prepare for Gray. As Rodrigo sings, “Now I’m getting in the car, wreckin’ all my plans/I know I should stop” the lights suddenly go off, fans start screaming and the “Wishbone World Tour” officially begins as Gray geared up to go on stage.
Esha Tewari, Gray’s opener for the Wishbone World Tour took the stage at 8 p.m., playing multiple songs off of her new EP, “What Makes A Girl A Girl.” The audience embraced her immediately by holding up their phone flashlights during multiple emotional songs and singing back to her during a sing along portion of her song, “About Me.” She was a great pick for opener based on genre alone, and her performance as an opener definitely kept the crowd engaged and having fun. This only goes to show just how important being an opener can be for an artist's career, as many of Gray’s fans have had the pleasure of discovering her music at his shows.
Gray’s fans not only embraced the music, but also the costumes and outfits themed off of the album cover of Wishbone, aesthetics of previous projects of his and even inside jokes within the fandom. Many were seen wearing sailor hats, dark blues and reds, and sailor outfits to match along with Gray’s Wishbone theme. Two fans were even seen dressed as The Grinch and Vecna from Stranger Things, and were chosen by Gray to break the wishbone. The power of fandom was clearly present in UBS arena.
Gray first started out his life in the public eye as a YouTuber, sharing his personal life with fans from the age of 14. His tendency to be personal in his work has extended deeply into his art and connection with his fans, who have watched him grow up. His music is emotional, touching on the topics of having a complicated home life, loneliness, feeling left out and the all-too-familiar situationship.
Through this vulnerability, he has built a deep connection with his fans and even incorporated them into his shows. He dedicates a small portion of his concert to what he calls “Conan’s Campfire,” an opportunity for him to play guitar and sing on a smaller, more personal scale. For fan interaction, Gray picks someone to pull a wishbone with him to pick the surprise song. Whoever gets the longer piece gets to pick from two options displayed on the screen. The two songs chosen this weekend were “Winner” and “The Exit.”
His music also features explicitly queer storylines, especially in his most recent album Wishbone. Through his vulnerability in his art and the community he has cultivated, he has amassed a largely queer fanbase. He celebrated and embraced this not only through his music on Saturday night, but by holding a LGBTQIA+ pride flag during one of his largest songs, “People Watching.” This was met with large cheers from the audience.
In a world where LGBTQIA+ rights are actively being threatened, it is incredibly important that young queer kids have artists they can look up to and places where they can feel safe. In a majority of his songs, Gray refrains from using gendered lyrics and instead talks directly to the other person, making it easier for the queer community to relate to his lyrics. One of these genderless songs is a song titled “Actor,” which includes lyrics such as, “if you ever cared, well, I wouldn’t know/Blame it on a mad manic episode” and, “The church bells won’t stop ringing/For an undead wedding day,” which most fans connect back with the idea of queer marriage being looked down on by religion. Additionally, with help from both the fans and Gray himself, the “Wishbone World Tour” has become a safe space for queer fans. Between fans being in costumes that allow them to express themselves as they please and the lack of gendered lyrics, being inside UBS Arena allowed fans to forget the negativity of the outside world and allowed them to exist in one where everybody was seen, loved and accepted.
“But there’s this beautiful moment in it/Where I can sorta just vanish,” a lyric from “Class Clown,” sums up Gray’s concert and live music as a whole. Concerts allow fans from all over to leave their baggage at the door, forget about anything and everything for three hours and live in the moment in a world that is so fast-paced. The “Wishbone World Tour” at UBS Arena let fans exist in a state of pure happiness and excitement, allowing time to scream lyrics with others and a space to feel accepted for who you are—every part of you, both hurt and healed.
