5 Seconds of Summer's Hot Chicago Show: Friendship Bracelets, Surprises, and Summer Fun
5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) fans did not hold back, despite almost 100° weather in Chicago on August 23, 2023. Huntington Bank Pavilion hosted the Australian band for The 5SOS Show tour.
Throughout the night, the band took breaks, encouraged fans to drink water, and leave the pit if they felt overheated at all. Their emphasis on the importance of fans taking care of themselves meant a lot to the crowd, who also made sure to look out for each other.
Fans showed off how close they are to each other by trading and handing out friendship bracelets representing different songs and inside jokes from the band. I was already getting bracelets from fans while on my train ride to the venue. They were even being handed out to venue staff and security. Friendship bracelets at concerts serve as a great reminder of memories made at the shows, as well as the passion of the fans.
They were accompanied by pop punk band, Meet Me @ The Altar(MM@TA). Fans admire how 5SOS often have opening acts that represent different communities of people, as MM@TA is made up of 3 women of color. The crowd went wild for their set of 10 songs, made up of 7 originals and 3 covers.
Their set was made up of a 28-song setlist lasting about 2 hours, including fan-favorites like “Amnesia,” “Don’t Stop,” “She Looks So Perfect,” and many more. Since their last tour, they released their album 5SOS5 so they were able to introduce songs from that setlist to a live performance. Fans were thrilled when the band brought back a few songs fans have been waiting to hear on tour again. Returning to the setlist for this tour, after 5 years, they played “Why Won’t You Love Me” and “She’s Kinda Hot”, and after 6 years was “Vapor”. They also featured their song “Outer Space” in their encore, after the song returned for a one night only show in September of 2022 for the first time in 5 years.
Every night, 5SOS perform a surprise song after Don’t Stop, chosen by a giant blown up dice that gets thrown into the crowd. Fans have 90 seconds to get the dice back on the stage, and whatever song lands on top gets played. For this show, fans were super excited after the die landed on their song Voodoo Doll.
The band explained how some songs were supposed to have confetti, but how the venue wouldn’t allow it because of a local bird that eats the confetti. At one point, they were able to use streamers in place of their confetti, as part of a bit where they hold confetti cannons shaped like ketchup and mustard bottles and point them at the crowd to “sauce” them (which is a play on words because of the pronunciation of the band’s abbreviation, 5SOS).
It’s safe to say that with the high energy of the crowd and the band, everyone had fun at this show. Fans were more than pleased with the set and the band expressed how excited they were to return to Chicago next time. Even through the hot summer night, the show was a success.
