Written by Kiera
It started with Alex Warren, “Troubled Waters,” and a bang of bright red fireworks.
Warren’s not-so-long-awaited return to Chicago after two Chicago shows last year was met with a nearly sold-out arena filled to the brim with excited, merched-out fans. Having performed at Chicago’s House of Blues and Lincoln Hall in 2025, Warren’s jump to the United Center marked remarkable growth in his career in just a year's time.
This year’s performance, though, was a complete blur of anthemic hits and earsplitting screaming from the notably young crowd. I walked into the show as a listener relatively new to Warren’s music (I say relatively, because who HASN’T heard “Ordinary”), and quickly realized I was one of few in such a position; I felt as though I was truly the only person in that arena who didn’t know every line and every word to Warren’s set. The crowd sang the lyrics back to Warren with remarkable clarity and power, linking arms and swaying as if they were reliving the glory days.
Though I walked into the venue with no established expectations for the evening, I quickly began anticipating that jovial bops would dominate the set as I saw wave after wave of young faces flooding the arena hallway; I was only partly mistaken. The crowd (or perhaps just me, the one attendee who did not know his story) quickly learned that Warren is no stranger to pain and loss.
“Is it okay if I get depressing with you for a minute? Whoever said no, remember you’re at an Alex Warren concert.”
Having already lost both his parents at only 25, Warren has had to find strength in community and through his music. Throughout the evening Warren shared home videos both from his childhood and those that he plans to share with his own children in the future, making sure they have as many beautiful memories to cherish as Warren did. Despite the heaviness of some of the themes explored in his music, I could not help but feel that every song could have been a feature film soundtrack pick. This is not to suggest that the music was not thoroughly enjoyable and relatable, but rather that I was surprised at the lack of less-produced musical moments throughout his set given the nature of what Warren writes about. The sheer level of production of the music almost made the sincerity of the music take a hit to me; that being said, the production level let his music shine at the arena level as a live set.
His Finding Family on the Road Tour appeared to be a healing experience for not only Warren, but his fans. A delightful number of 1:1 fan interactions between songs kept the evening light, engaging, and extremely personal for some fortunate fans. Between coordinated phone flashlight movements, silly costumes, and heartfelt fan signs, Warren’s fans seemed to soak up every single second of the experience. If you’re looking to feel the invigorating power of tens of thousands of people singing some of music’s favorite healing anthems, I highly encourage you to grab a seat at one of Warren’s remaining North America or Asia-Pacific dates through September.
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