Up close, internet performers show what they are not made of

On Thursday April 6, I went to the Digitour Spring show at the Middle East in Cambridge. The Digitour is a musical and interactive show starring internet personalities such as Tyler Brown, Loren Gray, Nate Garner, Simon Britton, Sam Collins, Liam Lis, HRVY (which is pronounced Harvey), and the band Found Vegas.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. If you aren’t a fan any of these people, I wouldn’t recommend going to Digitour since most of the show is designed for people who follow the performers and are invested in them as people — and not so much in what they do.

I can’t quite define the show. It had aspects of a meet and greet, but there were also musical acts. The audience consisted mostly of girls around the ages of 12 and 13.

When I first got there, all of these kids were swarmed around one entrance. There seemed to be a lot of confusion at the door between parents and staff. I later found out that some parents had paid extra for their kids to meet some of the performers, but that wasn’t happening.

The show started promptly at 5:30 p.m. and all the kids on tour were introduced. I say “kids” because they were all teenagers and because I can’t quite say “artists.” But I suppose you could call them “performers.”

The show was very interactive. The performers spoke directly to the crowd. They played three games where they invited people from the crowd to participate. However, they seemed to have pre-picked the volunteers they chose.

The games they played were:

• “The Dating Game” where a girl from the crowd got to ask male performers questions and decide which one of them they would date;
• “The Marriage Game” which was basically the same premise as “The Dating Game”;
• “Splish Splash” where two girls from the audience were given water guns and sprayed two guy performers.

Needless to say this wasn’t very entertaining unless you were playing or a 12-year-old in the audience. In fact, that really sums up the whole show. Unless you’re a 12-year-old invested in these performers, you won’t enjoy this show. Just ask any of the parents I saw sitting on the sidelines anxiously awaiting the end of the show.  

When they announced that the band Found Vegas would be playing, I was happy that there would finally be an actual performance of some kind. However, to be honest, the band was unimpressive. They were talented instrumentally, but vocally not so much. Not to mention most of the songs they performed were covers.

Later HRVY covered a few popular songs as well, such as “Controller” by Drake. HRVY wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t want to relive it.

I guess in conclusion it wasn’t for me. That being said if you — or more likely your kids — are interested in the Digitour there are four more shows: Tulsa  (April 27), Dallas (April 28), San Antonio (April 29), and Houston (April 30).

–April 23, 2017–