Troye Sivan delivers queer pop perfection in London – live review

“I shit you not I feel like I’m in the Lizzie McGuire movie or something.”

Troye Sivan is trying to speak over thousands of screaming fans at the Eventim Apollo in London who have reached fever pitch in the venue.

At this point we are only three songs into the set, but with an intro that included Seventeen, Bloom and Plum, it comes as little surprise that the energy levels have soared already. It’s one of the biggest headlines shows of his career and he can feel it.

The Bloom Tour sees Australia’s very own Prince of Pop bring his first two full-lengths albums together, presenting his tales of same-sex romance, heartache and desire to the next generation of queer youth.

“Do we have any of the LGBTQ community here tonight?” he asks to a rapturous response. It’s why Heaven – which deals with Troye’s own coming out experience – resonates so heavily with the crowd. Within moments the whole venue is transformed into one huge rainbow through thousands of fans’ smartphone flashlights and coloured gels.

But when it comes to the queer narrative, Troye has never limited it to just a handful of his songs. They form the very fibre of his songwriting.

Blue Neighbourhood cut FOOLS still slaps hard as everyone sings out every word, while latest single Lucky Strike is as seductive as Troye’s crush he wrote it for. Again, WILD reminds us all why we fell for Troye’s style of storytelling in the first place, his ethereal brand of pop elevating lyrics like “never knew loving could hurt this good.” It’s in a live setting that these sentiments hit hardest.

To prove even further that he knows his craft when it comes to dreamy boy pop, even lying on a couch through performances of break-up ballad The Good Side and What a Heavenly Way to Die is still incredibly captivating.

He soon jumps up, however, when his Charli XCX collaboration 1999 kicks in. That earworm chorus is bolstered by a big live production, the electronics reverberating over the heads of everyone as they jump in unison.

When it comes to onstage movement, Troye has mastered his own unique way of feeling the rhythm of his own beat. His slight frame moves fluidly across the stage with what’s fast becoming his trademark strut. There are hip wiggles, there is arm waving, and there is plenty of posing. It doesn’t feel choreographed, but adds plenty of charm to his stage presence. It comes out in full force during his Ariana Grande duet Dance to This, which remains one of his finest subtle bangers.

As we hit the encore it almost comes as surprise. The setlist is so seamlessly put together that there never feels like there’s a dip in the show. But the best has been saved for last. YOUTH captures the mood of the concert perfectly, while My! My! My! solidifies its worth as a storming set closer.

“This has been like the Lizzie McGuire come to life,” he says again before the final song. “And there’s four minutes of that left.” The crowd didn’t need telling twice to give the finale that stratospheric boost. In the words of the very wise Lizzie McGuire: this is what dreams are made of.