I’ve seen a lot of concerts and I’ve never seen someone as happy as Hilary Duff to be onstage. She makes other musicians look like they’re phoning it in and simply going through the motions.
It was really fun to see Hilary Duff at RBC Amphitheatre on Wednesday night in Toronto. The Lucky Me Tour lasted nearly two hours and she was beaming the entire time. She wasn’t just “all smiles.” She personified the expression.
Hilary Duff maximized her space at RBC Amphitheatre. With three sets of stairs, she made good use of levels. Her hair is always stunning, but she wasn’t afraid to lie back on the ground a few times while singing. The production also included pyro and lighting effects during Play With Fire. Plus, there was confetti and beach balls in the final song, What Dreams Are Made Of. The beach balls were unnecessary because they were so big, they blocked our view of Hilary Duff!
I’ve never seen a performer invite fans onstage so efficiently. She identified fans who knew how to dance to With Love. They didn’t steal the spotlight with a conversation, costume or proposal. They hugged hello, did the dance together in a row, hugged goodbye and that was it. This collaboration for her viral dance was a masterclass in fan engagement!
The costume changes were synced perfectly with video montages, which included behind the scenes footage of her Sports Illustrated photoshoot and family trips to Disney theme parks. There were great clips from her life and career that kept you focused. Then all of a sudden, there was a couch onstage to match the branding for her new album, Luck… or Something! All the transitions in her show were really smooth.
Hilary took a break from singing and dancing at “wine o’clock” to eat a hot dog. She was careful to avoid staining her tour manager’s Blue Jays jersey from the 1993 World Series. After taking a bite, she gave the hot dog to a fan at the front. There’s no doubt that Hilary is a charming and relatable woman, but this bit let her improvise and riff unscripted.
Canadian singer Jade LeMac kicked off the show as the first opener and La Roux was up next. Watching La Roux perform hits from her Trouble In Paradise album was a major throwback. I used to play her music in heavy rotation before I had Spotify. However, the audience seemed disinterested until she finished with Bullet Proof.
The crowd was filled with neon, pastels and butterfly clips. All around, a solid effort to dress up for the nostalgic concert, even in the rain!
Walking to the Hilary Duff concert in the rain reminded me of her monologue from A Cinderella Story. “Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought—useless and disappointing,” she tells Chad Michael Murray. Hilary famously said, “Let the rain fall down,” and it did. But there was nothing disappointing about it, except for some frizzy hair on a magical night.
Hilary Duff is an incredible popstar and truly a multihyphenate. She’s a rare example of someone who can seamlessly deliver amazing performances onstage and onscreen. How I Met Your Father didn’t get the ending it deserved!
Metamorphosis was one of my favourite CDs and Hilary Duff said Why Not is one of her favourite songs. Seeing her perform Come Clean was special because it was the Laguna Beach theme song and MTV’s The Hills inspired me to launch my site! I picked up the pink ticket-shaped magnet as a souvenir. It matches the pink Shania Twain keychain from McDonald’s and I need to display it with the Lizzie McGuire pin I tracked down at Disney World.
Hilary Duff’s tour was a blast. Check Ticketmaster for last minute resale tickets because you don’t want to miss it!
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Find the whole setlist for the Hilary Duff concert in Toronto here.