It may not have been the third of December, but this past Tuesday was just as iconic. I’ve been a fan of Conan Gray since his first EP “Sunset Season,” nearly seven years ago, but I have never gotten the chance to see him live. Thanks to pre-sale tickets, I was able to secure three floor seats to “The Wishbone Pajama Show” tour in Pittsburgh, PA.
Out of the various concerts that I’ve been to, this was the best. The dress code for the show was pajamas, which in of itself is very creative, so my friends and I got matching blue pajama pants and custom-made white t-shirts—mine said “I Heart Conan Gray” with a blue heart.
The show was held at the Petersen Events Center which has a capacity of about 9,000 people, so the show felt quite intimate. I arrived at the venue at around eight and Gray was set to go on at exactly nine. That gave us just enough time to get merch, find our seats, and trade bracelets with fellow fans.
This show had a fan project during the song “Vodka Cranberry,” and before Gray went on there were girls walking around with tape and a red sharpie to tint the phone flashlights of those on the floor to the color red. We also agreed to shine our flashlights during the song “Eleven Eleven,” and in both cases, Gray noticed and thanked the crowd.
Right before Gray went on stage, “bad idea right?” by Olivia Rodrigo played, and when the lyrics “I know I should stop” were sung, the lights went out, the crowd went crazy, and the “Wishbone Pajama Show” logo appeared on stage. Gray entered riding a bike, and began to sing the first song of the night, “My World” from the “Wishbone” album.
My favorite part about the show is how interactive Gray is with the audience. He dances on both sides of the stage, reacts to the volume of the crowd, cracks jokes, and encourages the audience to scream. It makes the entire performance feel intimate and catered. Gray played almost the entirety of his newest album, except for two songs. He also played two songs from his earlier albums, “Found Heaven,” “Kid Krow,” and “Superache.” He performed his most popular hits, such as “Heather,” “Maniac,” and “Memories.” It felt like we were traveling through each era of his music career thus far.
The show itself was split into four acts and then an encore. Act one was called “a wishbone never breaks even”, act two was “i got the short end of the stick,” the third was, “i took the long way to realization,” and the fourth was “i wished for love, and i found it.” In between each act, the stage transformed from a sunset backdrop with a windmill and mailbox to clouds, stars, and a bed, and then to various other sets, such as a lake and field. His outfit switched from various sailor suits to pajamas clearly sticking with his brand of the album.
After the fourth act, as part of a tradition, Gray pretended that the show was over and left the stage, and after the crowd chanted his name, he returned and sang two more songs, “Memories” and “Caramel.”
Truthfully, the show was very emotional for me. Not only was I hit with immense nostalgia for his older songs, but his set list consisted of some very sad songs, such as “Connell,” “Family Line,” and “Nauseous.” Gray’s voice was full of emotion and it hit me right in the heart. Before “Family Line” he made a speech, saying, “If anyone in this room has ever felt unloved, know that you are loved by me.”
The most memorable portion of this show is the surprise song segment. Every night of the show, Gray picks a fan from the audience and breaks a Wishbone with them and presents two surprise song options on the screen. If Gray gets the larger end of the stick, he picks the song. If the fan gets the larger end, then they get to pick. This show was special though, because a fan in attendance was a grandmother on TikTok who had gone viral for crying when her granddaughter surprised her with tickets to the show. Because of this, Gray selected “Grandma Sandy” to break the wishbone and for the first time on tour, a fan got the larger piece. The surprise song options for this night were “Fight or Flight” or “Alley Rose,” and Sandy picked “Alley Rose”.
This is actually my all-time favorite Gray song, so I absolutely lost my mind with excitement. And during the lyric “Where’d you go, go, Alley Rose?” he changed the word “Alley” to “Sandy.”
The sense of community among the fans was something so powerful. We were all dancing and screaming our favorite lyrics, trading bracelets, signing shirts, books, and talking about our favorite songs, even though we didn’t know each other at all. There was a sense of unity among the crowd, and that feeling was electrifying.
I had such a great time on the floor with such an incredible view that I almost couldn’t believe that I was that close. Gray’s music and lyricism has always spoken to me and seeing him live was better than I could’ve ever imagined. It was genuinely one of the best nights of my life. I will definitely be finding a way to make it to another one of his shows before the tour ends, and you should too.
