Review by Scout Marie

Gallery by Ora Heard (@oraheardphoto), originally shot for Televised Magazine

August 8th, 2026

If you were in Richmond, Virginia on the night of August 9th, chances are you spotted a few stars roaming the streets. Stars on hairclips, stars on belts, stars on skirts, stars on shirts. Keeping on theme with 5 Seconds of Summer’s “EVERYONE’S A STAR!” World Tour fans flocked to a nearly sold out Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront for an unforgettable night.

After sitting through four back-to-back rounds of a preview for FX’s The Shards and a göt2b haircare commercial (yes, they both played four times in a row) the moment finally came. Adopted by the band early on in the tour, Los Del Rio’s song Macarena playing over the speakers clued fans into their imminent arrival. It was hot, I started sweating the second I stepped out of my car, and it was about to get a whole lot hotter as the lights dimmed and the screen brightened to reveal a documentary-style opening scrawl. 

It was immediately clear to me that this is a version of 5 Seconds of Summer never seen before. Decked out in glitter and leather, the band has spent this entire album cycle playing overly heightened “rockstar” versions of themselves. “[The tour] is like if [the characters] were able to put on the show,” lead singer Luke Hemmings told Smallzy in an interview. This is evident in not only the visuals of the tour, but the sound itself. Each song has a heavier edge than its recorded counterpart, with the title track “Everyone’s a Star!” incorporating an almost metal-like breakdown to close it out.

The show itself is broken down into four “acts”, each representative of the lifecycle of a band. We start at “The Peak” of this version of the band’s popularity. Before we ever see them, the audience is greeted with a fake documentary about the very show we’re watching. This tongue-in-cheek humor continues throughout the entire show. Each act is accompanied by a short video to introduce it, with these videos including everything from 60 Minute spoofs to fake tabloid videos, and even a parody of the infamous ad Nicole Kidman did for AMC Theaters. One of my favorite elements of this humor, though, has to be The Boyband Awards. For their entire career 5SOS has rejected the label of “boyband”. With the advent of this new era, however, they play into it wholeheartedly. They embrace it so much that they’ve won Boyband of the Year 60 times in a row this tour. They continue to claim it’s not rigged, but I have my suspicions. 

The second act, “The Fall”, includes songs off of their third and fourth albums, Youngblood and CALM, as well as songs off of EVERYONE’S A STAR!. This act was introduced by a short video encapsulating the band’s start on YouTube and subsequent rise to fame. This act is my personal favorite, and includes my stand out songs of the night: Telephone Busy and Evolve. Drummer Ashton Irwin takes over lead vocals for these two songs. In a live setting they have a much grittier sound to them, which I adore. Evolve included an extended dance remix at the end, which the band has announced the full version to be releasing on August 14th in the wake of their Lollapalooza afterparty.

The third, and shortest, act is dubbed “The Yearning”, including the band’s bigger ballads Ghost of You, Bad Omens, and I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again. It is worth noting that this act is so short because it is typically accompanied by another act: “The Breakup”. “The Breakup” act includes each member’s solo work. It is unclear why this section was skipped in Richmond, but I think it being skipped was at a detriment to the show as a whole. Having the band’s solo music highlighted is incredibly unique and is likely the only chance many fans will have at hearing those songs live. It also plays into the whole idea behind EVERYONE’S A STAR!. Each of them are incredibly talented musicians, and have identities outside of a band. They’re still stars even when they’re not making music together. I admit, I was one of the fans disappointed by the skipping of this section, but if you can I highly recommend listening to their solo work.

Beneath the glitter and parodies, though, is the heart that’s kept fans coming back for nearly 15 years. This entire tour is a love letter to the people that have supported them since the beginning, pulling from guitarist Michael Clifford’s 2013 Tweet: “Real bands save fans, real fans save bands” and putting it at the core of their show. One of the moments that most represents this is the visuals that play on screen during 2014’s “Don’t Stop”. Even the choice of putting this song on the setlist is a nod to fans, as the band themselves have joked for years about how much they hate it. The visuals call back to the original music video where they play superhero versions of themselves, screens filled with comic strips detailing the story of the band. The biggest moment, however, is the tally mark that takes center stage towards the end of the song. To give the short version, the tally mark was the band’s original logo, but a few years into their career a streetwear brand filed a lawsuit against them claiming that it was copyright infringement. 5SOS changed their logo as a result and haven’t used the tally mark since. Having such a significant piece of the band’s history reappear for the first time in over a decade, mere months before their 15-year anniversary, speaks to just how dedicated they are to showing their appreciation to fans. 

Don’t Stop comes during the fourth, and final, act of the night: “The Rise”. This section is filled to the brim with all things 5 Seconds of Summer nostalgia, pulling out B-sides from their first album as Clifford exclaims to the crowd: “now’s your chance to prove you’re a real 5 Seconds of Summer fan!” My favorite song of that section was the “secret song” option of the night: You Don’t Go To Parties off of their fifth album 5SOS5. As fans entered the venue, a QR code was projected on the screens that when scanned gave them four song options to vote between, and the song that won the vote got played. Bassist Calum Hood shines on this track as he took over the lead vocals. I am mildly ashamed to admit the scream that came from me as it was revealed is one that my friend said sounded like I was “actively getting murdered”. 

They’re supported on this tour by Haiden Henderson and The Band CAMINO. I was unfortunately stuck in line during Haiden’s set (special thanks to I95 Southbound traffic). What I was able to hear from the line, however, I thoroughly enjoyed. Henderson’s music leans more into the grungier side of 5SOS, with my favorites of his set being a cover of Harry Styles’ Kiwi and an unreleased song Wanna Be Your Girl. When introducing guitarist Bella Perron, Henderson joked that “she’s the only girl you’re seeing on stage tonight.” This playful jab at the rest of the lineup fit in perfectly with the humor of the night.

I made it inside just in time for The Band CAMINO to take the stage. Originally supposed to tour with 5SOS on their 2020 tour that for obvious reasons was cancelled, The Band CAMINO knows how to work a crowd. They lean much more to the pop-rock sound 5SOS is known for. My favorites of their set were Stupid Questions and What I Want. Singer and guitarist Jeffery Jordan stated: “We have exactly 40 minutes to win you over as a fan”, and I can safely say they won at least one person in the crowd over by the time they were finished. Both support acts complement 5SOS incredibly well, showcasing and catering to all sides of the band and their fans. 

When watching 5 Seconds of Summer perform, even if they’re playing characterized versions of themselves, it’s clear that we are seeing people do what they were born to do. They hold the audience in the palm of their hands the entire show, managing to get a crowd of 7,500 people off of their feet despite the sweltering heat. 5 Seconds of Summer has spoken in the past about how first and foremost they’re a live rock band. I think that this tour has proven that more than any they’ve done before. If you have the chance, I cannot recommend going enough. 

THE SETLIST:

Act I: The Peak

NOT OK

No. 1 Obsession

Teeth

Act II: The Fall

Easier

More

istillfeelthesame

No Shame

She’s Kinda Hot

Boyband

Telephone Busy

Evolve

Act III: The Yearning

Bad Omens

Ghost of You

I’m Scare I’ll Never Sleep Again

Act IV: The Rise

Amnesia

You Don’t Go To Parties (secret song)

English Love Affair 

Voodoo Doll

Don’t Stop

Jet Black Heart

She Looks So Perfect

Encore

Everyone’s a Star!

Youngblood