Carlie Hanson and Troye Sivan ‘Bloom’ at the State Theatre

Gage Cureton
Staff Writer

Upcoming indie-pop artist Carlie Hanson and the sparkly “princess of pop” Kim Petras opened for Troye Sivan’s Bloom Tour to an electrified audience at the State Theatre in Minneapolis Oct. 17.

The main floor and balcony of the Theatre were packed with eager fans as a mixture of candy-colored lights illuminated the stage. Carlie, flexing a pair of fire-apple red Adidas Originals, met the audience with her intense energy and opened up the set with 2017’s “Why Did You Lie?”

With only a few meters of space, the young artist controlled the stage and had fans out of their seats. Carlie knows what we want even if we don’t know it yet.
With her new single “Toxins”, Carlie made herself vulnerable to the audience and a solemn vibe fell over the Theatre. She connected with the audience on a personal level, something rarely seen with newer artists.

But the atmosphere of the Theatre soon lifted as she ended the set with her righteous single “Us” and the audience raised a collective middle-finger with encouragement. A perfect call to arms, and an awesome conclusion for the artist’s first time playing in a large venue.

Up next, the German-born “princess of pop” Kim Petras strutted across the stage and the venue reverberated with the synthy and bass-filled tracks “All the Time” and “I Don’t Want It At All.” Kim worked the stage like a runway at a 1980 fashion show in Milan and her electro-pop style had a nostalgic undertone of the 1990’s pop scene.

Petras also promoted her new album “Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1” with “Tell Me It’s a Nightmare” and “Close Your Eyes.” It came just in time for the Halloween season and the audience was thrilled with the silky-smooth beats, vibrato-infused choruses and eerie lyrics.

However, the main attraction had yet to come. At 9 p.m. sharp, the stage filled with a dense fog and the Theatre erupted with eager cheers as Troye Sivan emerged from behind the red curtain. Sivan opened with “Seventeen” and his shadow cast behind him melted into the curtain as the fog seemed to disappear. He soon vanished back behind the curtain and after a short pause, it dropped, revealing a massive set with Sivan perched center-stage and a dazzling light show emersed behind his band.

With “Postcard”, Sivan made use of the creative and diverse stage set. He sat in a soft-lit makeshift living room as a spotlight lifted him out of the darkness. The audience was taken on a roller coaster of emotion led by Sivan himself. Sivan continued to enthrall the audience and fans alike with his spectacular light set up.

With each song it continued to change, never repeating the same pattern and blending into Sivan’s evolving presence on the stage. The audience was left guessing which direction the performance would go.

The Bloom Tour is undeniably an indie-pop enthusiast’s paradise. Chalked full of talented artists and entertaining performances, it’ll leave audiences pouring out of any venue with a hopeful outlook for the future of music.