Concert Reviews

For its “Everyone’s A Star!” World Tour at TD Garden, 5 Seconds of Summer combined fan-voting surprises, theatrical videos, and self-aware humor.

5 Seconds of Summer at TD Garden, Boston, June 5, 2026.

5 Seconds of Summer has spent nearly 15 years growing up alongside its fans. On Friday night at TD Garden, the Australian pop-rock quartet proved that while both the band and its audience may be older, the connection between them remains as strong as ever. 

Nostalgia, humor, and crowd participation defined the group’s “Everyone Is A Star!” World Tour stop in Boston, where more than 12,000 fans packed the arena for a show that celebrated the band’s past and showcased its newest chapter. 

Since forming in Sydney, Australia, in 2011, 5SOS has evolved from a teenage opening act into one of the most successful pop-rock bands of its generation, earning multiple chart-topping albums and billions of streams worldwide. 

The four members — Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood, and Ashton Irwin — made their first appearance at TD Garden in 2019, and on Friday, wasted little time acknowledging both the band’s absence and growth.

“We’re much better than we used to be. We’ve been doing this a while,” Hemmings told the crowd. “This time we’ve got a bigger budget. We’ve got wider pants. We are more prepared. We are more professional.” 

Friday’s production was bigger, the musicianship was sharper, and the band’s confidence was undeniable — starting with a dramatic entrance by stepping onto the stage from a white limousine. 

Before 5SOS took the stage, though, Nashville-based alternative-rock group The Band CAMINO warmed up the crowd with a set that had fans singing along, successfully setting the tone for the evening. 

But once 5SOS arrived, the focus shifted entirely to the relationship between the band and its fans. 

One of the tour’s most distinctive elements is its theatrical structure. Rather than simply moving from song to song, the concert unfolds across six acts — The Peak, The Fall, The Yearning, The Breakup, The Rise, and The Beginning — each introduced with video segments that blend humor, self-awareness, and storytelling. 

Throughout the night, the band leaned heavily into comedy. At one point, the group revisited a years-old meme involving its infamous pronunciation of Massachusetts, jokingly welcoming the audience to “Boston, Mashed Potatoes.” 

Another segment featured a mock PowerPoint presentation documenting the band’s Boston adventures, including practicing local slang, revisiting seafood spots, and apologizing to “close personal friend” Chris Evans after supposedly stealing Captain America’s shield. 

The jokes could have felt corny in another setting. Instead, they reinforced one of the band’s greatest strengths: its ability to make arena shows feel surprisingly personal. 

The setlist was a dynamic mix of old and newer material. Recent songs such as “NOT OK” and “Everyone’s a Star!” sat comfortably alongside fan favorites including “She’s Kinda Hot,” “Amnesia,” and “She Looks so Perfect.” 

Fans sang along to nearly every song, often loud enough to rival the band itself. During slower numbers, phone flashlights illuminated the arena as thousands of voices carried the choruses. Throughout the show, the band frequently stepped away from their microphones, trusting the audience to take over entire sections of songs — and the crowd never missed a beat.

Musically, the group’s chemistry remains one of its strongest assets. Hemmings’ vocals sounded confident throughout the night, while Clifford, Hood, and Irwin provided harmonies that elevated many of the set’s biggest moments. The layered vocals during “Ghost of You” were particularly impressive and highlighted the band’s growth as live performers. 

The stage design also contributed to the show’s success. A limo positioned at the center of an extended runway served as the visual centerpiece, allowing the band to move closer to fans throughout the arena. While the setup was creative and helped improve sightlines, the production occasionally felt limited by the lack of a secondary stage elsewhere in the venue.

Still, the band compensated with the strong light design, frequent bursts of confetti, and enough movement to keep the show visually engaging without relying on dancers or excessive theatrics. 

Another highlight came through the night’s fan-voted surprise song. Before the concert, audience members scanned a QR code and voted among four options. The eventual selection, “Red Dessert,” was revealed through a playful “Deal or No Deal”-inspired segment involving a fan from the audience. The reaction was immediate and overwhelming, creating a moment that made attendees feel like active participants. 

That sense of theatricality carried into Act IV, “The Breakup.” A humorous video depicted the band dramatically splitting apart before Hemmings returned alone to perform his solo song “Starting Line.” Gradually, the rest of the band’s instrumentation joined him, creating a seamless transition that blurred the lines between solo material and the group’s collective identity. 

The humor continued later in the show when the band staged a mock award presentation celebrating their status as a boyband before launching into “Boyband.” Bringing a fan onstage to present the award only heightened the comedy. Each member delivered an acceptance speech, with Hood earning one of the night’s biggest laughs by thanking “the creator of Boston cream donuts.” 

By the time the band exited before its encore, few fans appeared ready to leave. Thousands remained standing, waiting for one final return. 

The encore delivered exactly what the audience wanted. “Everyone’s a Star!” served as an uplifting reminder of the tour’s central message before “Youngblood” transformed TD Garden into one final massive singalong. 

What ultimately separated the concert from many other arena shows wasn’t the production budget or elaborate staging. It was the band’s commitment to involving the audience in the performance — whether through fan voting, inside jokes, crowd sing-alongs, or direct interactions. 

“We’ve been around for 15 years. There’s been six albums … and still we turn up to Boston,” Hood said. “If it isn’t clear already, let me clear the air: Five Seconds of Summer f—king loves you guys. Thank you for being here.” 

By the end of the night, that appreciation felt genuine.

5SOS may no longer be the teenagers who first captured audiences in the early 2010s, but Friday’s performance showed a band that has matured without losing the energy, humor, and sincerity that made fans fall in love with it in the first place. 

For longtime listeners, it was a welcome trip down memory lane. For the band, it was proof that after nearly 15 years, it is still creating the kind of moments that keep fans coming back.

Setlist for 5 Seconds of Summer at TD Garden, June 5, 2026

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 Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again 

Act IV: The Breakup 

• Starting Line 
• Have U Found What Ur Looking For?
• Don’t Forget You Love Me 
• enough 

Act V: The Rise 

• Amnesia 
• Red Dessert 

Act VI: The Beginning 

• English Love Affair 
• Voodoo Doll 
• Waste the Night 
• Jet Black Heart 
• She Looks so Perfect 

Encore: 

• Youngblood
• Everyone’s a Star! 

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