Joshua Bassett catapulted over his stage setup on Tuesday to kick off The Golden Years Tour at Arizona Financial Theatre and reminded fans how much they’ve missed him. The pop singer hasn’t toured in over a year but he’s back with a brand new album and a fresh outlook on life.
Thomas Day opened the evening with his energetic stage presence and impossibly catchy songs, winning the hearts of the early crowd on the barricade. Refusing to stand still, he practically ran from one end of the stage to the other, waving at ecstatic fans and encouraging them to sing along to “The New Me”, “Overplayed” and more. The audience was thrilled with his exuberance and he was the perfect warm-up for the evening’s headliner.
Joshua Bassett’s devoted fans turned up in droves with their carefully planned outfits, cowboy hats and signs professing their love for the singer. With one leap onto the stage and right into the live debut of “The Golden Years”, Bassett was back like he never left. Within minutes, Bassett was entirely out of breath from sprinting across the stage and to the end of the makeshift catwalk built so he could be even closer to the fans throughout the show.
He also took time to sit down at his pristine white piano, speaking seriously about his struggles with addiction over the last few years and his determination to come back even stronger with his newest album and this summer tour. The fans shouted their encouragement, bolstering Bassett as the set continued. He even wandered into the crowd, taking selfies with fans and wiping tears from their faces as he soaked in the love. By the third song, he had launched himself off of the piano, performing acrobatics that both delighted and concerned the fans.
A significant portion of the set was devoted to his new album, as he debuted “Cherry Blossom”, “Mirror”, “Little Rita” and more. The first night of a tour is the moment where anything can happen and Bassett joked that his Discord community was upset with the removal of “Smoke Slow” so he performed a last-minute acoustic version that had the whole room singing along.
As the evening drifted towards its conclusion, Bassett spoke about his renewed sense of faith and the strength it’s given him to resume his musical pursuits and get back on the road this summer. The audience cheered vigorously for his simple, candid honesty and carried him through to the end of the set- a moment that included a birthday request for “The Best Part/Even When”.
Bassett emerged for an encore of fan favorites, ending a perfectly imperfect tour kickoff that really was a celebration of an artist finding his way again. That glow transferred to the fans as well and they left the theater happy to know that their favorite is back.
