Troye Sivan's Something to Give Each Other tour review: A sweaty ...

By Alastair James

The last time I was at the AO Arena in Manchester was to watch Dua Lipa on the opening night of the UK leg of her Future Nostalgia tour. Back then I watched the artist become a bonafide star before my very eyes. The same happened on Saturday (22 June) with Troye Sivan. Not to say I doubted his star quality before, but seeing it for myself, live, and with thousands of other fans, it becomes inescapable and worthy of remark. 

When he announced the Something To Give Each Other tour Troye said the album had always been imagined as a live show. “It has to be the party. It has to be the best night of your life, the best night of my life,” he shared in November 2023. Safely, Troye delivers on that. In a tight one hour and fifteen minute set Troye certainly creates a party, all sweat, energy, and euphoria.

Songs like opener ‘Got Me Started’ and his Bloom hit ‘My My My!’ have the audience in full rave mode. Meanwhile slower, more emotional moments come in what could be described as ‘the Ariana Grande section’ (‘Dance to This’ and ‘supernatural’) as well as tracks from his 2020 EP In A Dream.

The focus is of course on the Something To Give Each Other album where the biggest moments come. ‘One of Your Girls’ is a particular stand-out moment. As well as ‘Bloom’ they’re also where Troye demonstrates just how much of a star he is as he simultaneously sings, dances, and rallies the crowd. Troye’s truly an artist who can do it all – the party, the love, and the heartbreak.

The whole show is well done but I couldn’t help but wonder if Troye could have done with a bigger stage. The space certainly allows for it as Dua demonstrated in 2022. As amazing as it is a spectacle to watch, it feels a bit reserved in that regard.

After just over an hour Troye announces there’s only one song left after his Charli XCX collab, ‘1999’. It’s ‘Honey’, fitting given he described it previously as being “the confetti moment” of a live show. There’s no actual confetti here but it does set the stage perfectly for a loud and full-throttle rendition of ‘Rush’ as the encore. Sadly we’re only treated to it once whereas videos show Berlin got it twice! 

It’s still very light as the crowds emerge onto the streets of Manchester at nearly ten o’clock. After that party of a show, it could easily be the early hours of the next morning instead and we’re only just getting home feeling a sense of exhilaration and intoxication. I can’t help but think that, given the compact set list, and considering Troye’s discography, it could have gone on longer. Lines about it feeling rushed write themselves. And there are plenty of songs to include. But as Troye stated himself, he wanted to get through the sad songs to focus on the party vibes. Set lists from previous stops also show only a couple more songs than what we got, so we haven’t missed out on much. And Troye leaves us wanting more, which most people headed to Canal Street probably do, myself included.