The average age of the audience at The Van Buren on Tuesday hovered somewhere in the teens as the kids turned out en masse (parents in tow) for a chance to dance with Boywithuke. The faceless internet sensation was joined by Naethan Apollo for a sold out evening and no one wanted to miss a moment of the action.
Naethan Apollo emerged with an apologetic cough and assurances that he planned to push through his set despite a lingering tour cold pressing on his vocal cords. Dressed in an outfit that would have fit right in at a Renaissance Festival, the quirky vocalist made sure that crowd fully appreciated his fashion choices, calling for a rousing “Huzzah!” after every song.
Apollo’s music is largely centered around his fiancé and he dedicated the majority of the set to her- especially on the sweet but almost saccharine “To You, From Me”. Anyone on TikTok is familiar with “Person in the Mirror” and even Apollo couldn’t believe the pseudo-narcissistic self-love track is now his most popular. His voice was beginning to fail him but the set still closed on a high note as he launched himself onto the barricade for “You’re Not Welcome” to close out the night’s warm-up.
Boywithuke is faceless, nameless and unavoidably famous if the crowd clamoring at the barricade was any indicator. It’s rare to see The Van Buren’s stage so empty but Boywithuke merely had a large video screen, a mic stand and his trusty ukulele to fill up the space and he made every square inch count with his antics. The microphone he carries isn’t even the one he uses to sing- that can be found in his LED mask with only two white circles for eyes and an aura of mystery that adds to the appeal of his act.
From the first notes of “Rockstar”, the sold out venue threatened to overwhelm Boywithuke’s vocals with their own spirited singing and he fully encouraged their participation. “Two Moons” got some of the loudest cheers of the night (and with plenty of fans already sporting the art on their merchandise), while cute little anecdotes about meeting his girlfriend segued into “She Said No” and “Haha, Hi”.
This tour’s most popular game show Fishing With Fans was introduced halfway through the set as Boywithuke drafted his friends to cast a literal fishing line into the crowd to pull people onstage. That lucky handful of humans joined the backing vocals for a song before Boywithuke got back to his regularly scheduled shenanigans.
The mask may be a gimmick, but it’s clearly working for him- fans are wholeheartedly invested in both the mystery and the music while the artist gains the freedom that faceless anonymity brings outside of the live setting. Regardless, the focus was on his voice and even his lingering illness and various tour injuries couldn’t stop him from making the Phoenix stop memorable for everyone in the room.
The night closed out with unreleased song “Homesick” before Boywithuke re-emerged to play an encore of “IDGAF” and a mostly acoustic rendition of “Trauma”. Long after he’d left the stage, the line for shirts stretched onto the patio with fans already clamoring for their next chance to see the incognito wunderkind.
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Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
