Alex Warren brought his “Finding Family on the Road” tour to Los Angeles on June 6, and the evening was anything but “Ordinary.”
Marking a new career milestone, the Grammy Award–nominated singer/songwriter performed in front of a sold-out crowd at the Crypto.com Arena. Just three years ago, I caught Alex Warren performing at The Troubadour. Time certainly flies when you’re releasing chart-topping hits and performing on stages all across the globe. As I entered the massive arena and prepared to see Alex in this new setting, I was ready to be amazed, inspired, and ready to break a sweat dancing!
At 7:45PM, openers Nat and Alex Wolff took the stage, giving off a casual attitude and wearing athletic gear. Some audience members recalled Nat and Alex Wolff from their hit Nickelodeon TV series The Naked Brothers Band, which premiered nearly 20 years ago. Some audience members recognized the brothers from their various movie roles over the years, while others were barely getting acquainted with their talents that evening. The brothers performed their 2016 track “Rollin’ Around” to warm up the crowd, with Alex Wolff leading the vocals and playing the keyboard. They quickly transitioned into performing “If You Never Left Me,” a chill indie-pop track that appears on their recently released self-titled album.
After quickly removing his LA Dodgers jacket, Nat Wolff shared with the crowd that Alex Warren was a huge fan of his growing up. This led to the invitation for them to open the tour. Nat and Alex Wolff then proceeded to perform (in Nat’s words) a “rave version” of their iconic song “Crazy Car.” As Alex Wolff played the electric guitar, the stage lights strobed, and Nat Wolff jumped along the catwalk while singing with an auto-tune effect.
If that wasn’t enough of a throwback, Alex Wolff also briefly hopped on the drums as Nat sang “Shake,” a heartfelt song from their 2023 album Table For Two that was dedicated to their father. Both brothers made sure to get up close and personal with the crowd, spending plenty of time sitting and kneeling at the edge of the catwalk, and making eye contact with audience members. One of LA’s largest concert venues suddenly felt like an intimate room, and it’s no surprise that two brothers who have been performing on stage for nearly 20 years were able to create this sensation that would linger on throughout the rest of the evening.
Once Nat and Alex Wolff departed the stage, a large curtain fell from above, sending the audience into a frenzy. The title of the tour was projected onto the curtain, illuminated with gold lighting that shone throughout the dark arena. As fans shuffled throughout the standing pit area in front of the stage, one special fan caught the attention of many concertgoers. It was no other than viral social media sensation Mr. Fantasy, attempting to weave his way closer to the stage while making quick pauses to hug and take selfies with his own fans in the crowd. Crossing paths with Mr. Fantasy in the pit served as a perfect reminder that you never really know who you’ll run into at a concert in LA.
Shortly before 9PM, the lights in the arena went dark, and family videos from Alex Warren’s early childhood were projected onto the curtain. The clips were super endearing and provided the audience with a wonderful background on his musical journey. As a toddler, Alex hosted performances for his family in their living room, playing what appeared to be a ukulele or a small guitar and singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” A little later in his childhood, he could be seen playing the electric guitar. These home video clips continued to be displayed as silhouettes of Alex’s backing band members simultaneously appeared as an overlay. The curtain slowly rose, and as soon as the entire stage was revealed, Alex emerged in a pastel yellow cardigan, singing the opening notes of “Troubled Waters” in front of small bursts of fireworks.
For the next two hours, Alex concocted a true emotional whirlwind of a show, pulling audience members in with his passionate energy, soulful vocals, and bits of humor thrown in the mix. Proceeding to gleefully skip around the stage while performing “Bloodline,” Alex was truly getting in the groove. Despite jumping and running around the stage all throughout the evening, Alex never seemed to be out of breath. This level of stamina is quite impressive for an artist on his first arena tour, and Alex made it all seem totally natural.
While he welcomed the audience to the show, Alex recalled performing across the street at The Novo nearly a year ago to the date for his Cheaper Than Therapy tour. He said, “I was here about five months ago, so this is a cool redemption arc for me.”
He noticed a significant number of male audience members, and joked about “loving the testosterone” and the possibility of being told by a female significant other that they were going to a Kendrick Lamar concert instead. He said, “I hope that you get something from the show, and if you don’t, I hope that you get so drunk that I start to sound like Kendrick Lamar.”
Alex also paused to give a shoutout to all of the children in attendance at the show, and gave a brief apology in advance for the inevitable swear words he’d hurl throughout the show. “Your friend here has a potty mouth,” he said.
Taking a brief pause from the hilarious dialogue, Alex quickly shifted back into performance mode, tugging at heartstrings with his live renditions of “Before You Leave Me” and “You’ll Be Alright, Kid.” While swapping out guitars, he called out a fan in the crowd for holding up a small cutout of Alex with a bald head. He quickly grabbed the sign and concealed his own face with it, commenting, “What the f**k is this, and why do I kinda like it? It’s kind of like Mr. Clean.”
In the spirit of attempting to create the most intimate experience possible for fans, Alex and his band moved to a B-stage halfway through the show to perform “Catch My Breath,” “Heaven Without You,” “Same Stars,” and “Fine Place To Die.” He also took a moment to have an honest chat with the audience about grief. Throughout the years, Alex has been very open with his fans about the death of both of his parents, especially the pain associated with losing his father at a young age.
“That was difficult for me, because I didn’t understand grief,” he said. “To this day I still don’t understand it, but something stuck with me. No matter who I met, when I lost my dad, everyone told me it would get better. I struggle with that to this day because it never did. I was able to manage it a little better, but that piece of me is always gone.”
While walking across the B-stage and looking deeply into audience members’ eyes, he went on to share that as time passed by, he began to forget many details about his dad. The reality of not having his father around was truly starting to settle in, and it was almost crippling. Alex mentioned experiencing deep feelings of loneliness, until he started to perform for others. He then asked the crowd to raise their hands if they’ve ever lost someone, and nearly everyone in the arena (myself included) instantly raised their hands.
“Look around,” he said. “This is a room where you can feel seen, where you can cry, where you can talk about them. Everyone understands that feeling, and that’s the coolest thing I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Before proceeding with the show, Alex encouraged everyone to continue to share the stories of their departed loved ones. This is something he has proudly done through his music, and will presumably continue to do so. “People die twice,” he said. “They die when they die, and they die when you stop telling their stories.”
When Alex made his way back to the main stage, he cranked up the energy by performing “Getaway Car,” “You Can’t Stop This” and “Everything.” The time to skip around in a circle and jump around in place had resumed, and it was kicked into overdrive when Alex invited Nat and Alex Wolff on stage again to join him in performing “Carry You Home.” This was only the beginning of the guest appearances for the evening, as Alex had another major surprise for the crowd.
After performing the ever-vibrant “Burning Down,” Alex brought out Becky G to do a duet of her hit single “Shower.” The entire arena erupted with excitement, singing every lyric and dancing as if no one else was watching.
Only two songs remained on the setlist, and Alex was determined to make them extra special. While performing “FEVER DREAM,” Alex invited Mr. Fantasy on stage to push a button that would activate the confetti cannons that lined the main stage. A sea of color filled the air, and Alex closed out the evening by performing his smash hit “Ordinary” with minimal lighting. During the outro of the song, Alex re-emerged at the B stage, hugging a fan dressed up as Papa Smurf. Even greater bursts of confetti shot out from cannons around both stages, and for a split second, the view in front of me was almost entirely white.
As Alex ran through the aisle and I received a high-five, I found myself shouting, “THIS IS LIFE!” The whole evening felt like a giant celebration of simply being alive, and the connections we create with one another through a shared love of music. While life may have many dull moments, looking back upon nights like these is bound to keep someone going, and the memories that were made deserve to be shared eternally.