The 22-year-old pop sensation Benson Boone jetted into Memphis for the final night of the RiverBeat Music Festival. His appearance on the Orion Financial Stage came less than 24 hours after he had performed on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in New York City. Boone had already been booked to play RiverBeat before well his breakout performance on the Grammy Awards telecast in February and prior to his high-profile slot playing at the Coachella Music Festival in April.
Given his current career momentum, it was a fairly large and expectant crowd that greeted him for his Memphis concert debut on May 4 at Tom Lee Park. The Washington state native — who specializes in vaulting pop songs — is a technically gifted singer, with a modicum of charisma, but so far much of the attention has been focused on his stage acrobatics — a variety of flips, splits and somersaults — and his flamboyant outfits. Benson Boone performs at RiverBeat Music Festival at Tom Lee Park in Downtown Memphis on May 4.
RIVERBEAT 2025: Memphis' queen of sacred soul Elizabeth King takes RiverBeat music fest crowd to church Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On May 4, Boone was dressed down, wearing a black jacket and jeans rather than his usual jumpsuit chic. There was, however, plenty of physical dexterity on display, as Boone and his five-piece band kicked off the concert with “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else” — fans didn’t have to wait long before the first signature backflip of the evening from atop a piano (it’s fair to say Boone has done more to bring gymnastics into music than anyone since Nils Lofgren and his trampoline in the ‘70s). While Boone’s songs are not indistinguishable from one another, most offer a familiar formula with tunes like “Drunk in My Mind,” “Cry” and “Pretty Slowly,” largely designed to showcase his vocal chops and youthful earnestness.
Boone slowed things down and asked the audience to put way their phones for a moment, as he sang lamenting “In the Stars,” a song written about the loss of his grandmother. Later he put the audience through their paces, doing his best Freddie Mercury style call-and-response crowd work. The set’s penultimate number, “Young American Heart,” found Boone parading in front of an American flag backdrop, playing a song that sounded a little like Bruce Springsteen, had the Boss cut his teeth on “Glee” rather than in the bars of the Jersey Shore.
Benson Boone performs at RiverBeat Music Festival at Tom Lee Park in Downtown Memphis on May 4. Still, it was hard to deny Boone’s finale, which came with a rousing version of his chart-topping radio hit, “Beautiful Things,” as he brought the performance to a climax with another nimble flip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Suddenly seized by the crowd’s cheers, he jumped off stage, landed in the pit area and began racing across the front row, shaking hands and hugging fans.
After what had been eventful weekend, and a meteoric rise of the past few months, Boone’s excitement was understandable and left the audience feeling like part of something special as the sun set over Tom Lee Park. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Benson Boone, fresh off 'SNL' debut, flips into Memphis for RiverBeat
