“It feels so good to be home, honestly.”
There’s no place like home, and boy there’s nothing like a Houston homecoming – even if it is all the way out in The Woodlands. Last night, the Hilary Duff brought her lucky me tour to a sold out pavilion with a career spanning set that successfully merged old and new. Duff delivered potent 2000s nostalgia, peppered in plenty of bops off her new album luck…or something, and even divulged her hometown itinerary.
“I got to take my kids down Voss Road today where I used to ride my bike. I got to take them to my old house where I grew up in Memorial. I got to eat at Escalante’s with some family. I got to show them what real queso tastes like, because L.A.’s not the same. I gave them all Shipley’s Donuts this morning.”
Every local shoutout from the television, film, and music crossover star was punctuated by Houston hollers. This is, after all, the Houstonian who once sold out RodeoHouston while guiding a generation through adolescence on Lizzie McGuire and a plethora of box office juggernauts before soundtracking their lives by crossing over into music.
Before last night’s victory lap of a set, it had been over two decades since Duff took to the rodeo’s rotating stage, and nearly the same intermission since her last major tour. Which made her rare concert appearance and outpouring of love for Houston last night that much more meaningful.
Duff’s stage was profitable minimal: some drapes, some screens, a trio of staircases four steps high, a five-piece band, and a looming disco ball. Its most crucial element being the 38-year old millennial icon at the center of it all.
Her opening one-two punch packed a dopamine wallop for the lifers both on the lawn and under the tent (“Wake Up,” “So Yesterday”). Duff would later pause and press rewind on an H Town referencing song (“Play with Fire”) to make a full blown moment of the lyric “So don’t you sit there tryna give me more excuses / I don’t have time for this I’m off to play in Houston.”
She embraced older album cuts with a newfound maturity and their original spirit intact (“Fly,” “Anywhere but Here”). Four audience members’ dreams came true when Duff brought them onstage to recreate a dance that went viral years after the fact (“With Love”).
Newer cuts from luck…or something – easily Duff’s most intentional and polished studio effort – received plenty of love from both Duff and the crowd. It’s a shimmering collection of tracks with eyebrow raising lyrics and intuitive hooks (“Roommates”), a refined vocabulary (“Weather for Tennis”), and Supertamp styled synths that ignite a summer night as hot as last night’s (“Future Tripping”).
Deep into the show, Duff caught sleepover vibes singing from a couch while donning a Hannah Montana tee and oversized jeans. As if gently reminding the room that the entire ecosystem of Disney Channel pop stars that emerged in her wake – Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, The Cheetah Girls – wouldn’t exist without her. As if she said: Let’s go back to my house, dance in the living room, sing on the couch, talk about the places we grew up, and ponder what dreams are made of.
Seeing Duff close the show with that massive hit (“What Dreams Are Made Of”) from The Lizzie McGuire Movie was the purest material a millennial can find nowadays. It asks the big capital-L life questions, it surges in your heart and swells in your being, and it’s unashamed to do so. Nevermind the confetti cannons, the disco ball, and the frenzied, teary-eyed singalong – the fact that Hilary is still willing to take us there seals the deal.
Random Notebook Dump: RodeHouston really needs to book this woman again.
Set List
Wake Up
So Yesterday
Roommates
Weather for Tennis
Play with Fire
Breathe In. Breathe Out.
Sparks
Future Tripping
With Love
Beat of My Heart
You, from the Honeymoon
Anywhere but Here
Growing Up
Fly
Holiday PArty
We Don’t Talk
Why Not
Adult Size Medium
Come Clean
Mature
What Dreams Are Made Of
