The Record (Troy, NY)

Charlie Puth nails another concert

Plays songs from sophomore album, Voicenotes

- By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@troyrecord.com @NickBuonan­no on Twitter

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Thousands of people spent their Sunday night singing along to over a dozen Charlie Puth songs, as the 26-year-old New Jersey native performed at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Puth sang 16 different songs - some from his sophomore album, Voicenotes, along with some of his older hits, such as “One Call Away” and “See You Again”- as part of the 2018 Honda Civic Tour.

Opening act, Hailee Steinfeld, who is a singer and actress, helped to get the packed crowd, filled with people of all ages, get ready for Puth to take the stage.

The crowd enjoyed Steinfeld’s roughly 40 minute performanc­e of 10 songs, with her performing some of her hits alongside some backup dancers such as her single “Most Girls” and “Let me Go”.

After Steinfeld finished her list, the crowd then went nuts for Puth as he appeared on stage from behind a curtain.

Puth kicked things off with one of his most recent hits from Voicenotes, which was released in May, by playing “The Way I Am”.

The vibe of the crowd during his nearly two hour performanc­e was electric the whole time, with people of all- ages singing along while taking videos and photos throughout his entire performanc­e.

Puth appreciate­d the energy and vibe of the crowd and engaged with the audience a few times during the show, such as when he called out several fans who were wearing some of his merchandis­e and when he read aloud some of the signs that several fans made for the show.

The young R&B and Pop artist referred to Saratoga Springs as the “home of the finest spring water in all of America”, as he then said that, “I have one question, what is it you ask? You wanna know really? How Long has this been going on Saratoga”, as he then played another hit single off his new album titled, “How Long”.

Before performing one of his other new songs called, “Change”, Puth described some of his inspiratio­n behind making the song. “The world is crazy.... It’s nice to take a three minute and 30 second break from the craziness.... music can be multiplied by [the] many millions of people who listen to it and [we] can get one step closer to world peace, I know that sounds cliche, but I truly, truly believe that and that’s why I’ve written this song,” Puth told the crowd.

Puth ended the night by singing one of his first hits, “See You Again”, which he also explained to the crowd as to why he created this song that was released in 2015 with Wiz Khalifa for the movie Furious 7 soundtrack, which was also a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker. “Just because I’m in New York, I feel like it’s appropriat­e to tell the backstory behind [“See You Again”],” said Puth. “September 11 ,2001 was a very, very strange day and it was a very, very devastatin­g day and I remember a year later Bruce Springstee­n- I don’t say this at every concert, just for you guys right nowBruce Springstee­n put out this record called “The Rising”, a really good record [and] track 15 is called “My City of Ruins”. After listening to that song and experienci­ng what I experience­d and what many people experience­d on that horrible, horrible day that still affects us many, many years later- almost two decades later- “My City of Ruins” is the song that inspired this [song] that we’re going to play for you.”

After finishing his last song, Puth along with his drummer, keyboardis­t and guitarists thanked the crowd for being so into the show, as they all got a loud and long standing ovation.

 ??  ??
 ?? NICHOLAS BUONANNO -- NBUONANNO@TROYRECORD.COM ?? Charlie Puth plays on his keyboard guitar while performing at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday night.
NICHOLAS BUONANNO -- NBUONANNO@TROYRECORD.COM Charlie Puth plays on his keyboard guitar while performing at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday night.
 ?? NICHOLAS BUONANNO -- NBUONANNO@TROYRECORD.COM ?? Charlie Puth puts on a good show during the 2018Honda Civic Tour at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday night.
NICHOLAS BUONANNO -- NBUONANNO@TROYRECORD.COM Charlie Puth puts on a good show during the 2018Honda Civic Tour at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday night.
 ?? NICHOLAS BUONANNO -- NBUONANNO@TROYRECORD.COM ?? Hailee Steinfeld performs Sunday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center as an opening act for Charlie Puth.
NICHOLAS BUONANNO -- NBUONANNO@TROYRECORD.COM Hailee Steinfeld performs Sunday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center as an opening act for Charlie Puth.

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