REVIEW: Hilary Duff "lucky me" tour
Back in January of this year, I attended my old roommate's (the girl one, not my ex. Hi Shae!) birthday party and met her coworker, Morgan, at this event. We of course immediately bonded over our love of all things pop culture. The moment that really solidified our friendship, though, was when we were discussing our favorite people Hilary Duff has had beef with, and we both said Faye Dunaway at the exact same time. It was a moment that practically felt like nuclear fusion; a combination of love, respect, and a touch of mockery for the foremost Millennial Cringe Queen (despite proving that she's still "With It" in the most hilarious way) and Destroyer of Homophobia.
That's precisely how this show felt for its entire 100-minute runtime—like nuclear fusion. It was a delightful blend of pure joy, a touch of celebrating girlhood and childhood, a hint of nostalgia, and a bit of silliness. All these elements came together to create one of the best shows I have attended this year (and keep in mind, I was sitting on the lawn at the Xfinity Center, way in the back). What made this show so great was not the stage setup (which was elegant and perfectly suited for Mrs. Duff), the costuming (which was basic but gorgeous and, most importantly, made sense with the image Hilary was trying to cultivate), the singing (which, quite frankly, threw me with how good she sounded, even if she might have been using a pitch correction tool), or even the moment she brought people on stage to do the infamous Good Morning America "With Love" dance breakdown. While all of these parts made the show greater than their sum, what really made this event special was how honest it felt (I can't take credit for that descriptor - that is how my friend Mitchel summed up the whole show's experience, to which I wholeheartedly agreed). Hilary Duff has never been a pop singer with crazy flare (or, frankly, even a strong brand). her music has consistently been straightforward, simple, bubblegum pop, and that's exactly what the show provided: she kept everything simple and straightforward, and it worked in her favor. Every single aspect of this show was beautifully executed; from the setlist structure to the stage setup and the lighting effects, from the costuming to audience interaction, every single moment of this show (despite a few snags) flowed like a river with no rapids.
I would be remiss to not mention as well (before getting into the "strengths") section just how happy everyone seemed to be while walking around the Xfinity Center. The joy was practically infectious; from the moment my friends Katherine, Mitchel, Ashlei, and I pulled into the parking lot to tailgate to the moment we finally exited the parking lot, there was not a single moment I didn't see someone in the audience smiling from ear to ear. The show felt greater than just Hilary performing on stage; it was a celebration of millennial childhood and the joy that Hilary brought to our TV screens and to our ears during her prime Disney days. She managed to pull a community together in a way that seemed organic and natural (which I can't really say the same for the Eras Tour, as incredible as that show was... but maybe my thoughts on that are for another blog post. Swifties if you see this please don't SWAT my house!)
Strengths
Chris D., if you are reading this, I am so sorry to report that this show was absolutely incredible from start to finish (for context, dear reader, my friend Chris hates Hilary. That's a battle I am not going to fight, as everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinion). I don't even know where to start with listing the strengths of this show, but I guess I need to start somewhere...
The biggest strength of the show, and quite frankly, Ms. Duff's persona, is that she does straightforward pop really well. Hilary has never been one to reinvent the wheel of the pop genre, or even try to do adopt a new persona or vibe (something that Taylor Swift, I must begrudgingly admit, does very well with each new album, excluding tired ass showgirl). Every single piece of work Hilary has released has been very distinctly all about her and nothing else. Even with this show, the entire vibe and image she created and projected on stage was very clearly Hilary-coded, despite nothing being unique or different. To put it more plainly: Hilary Duff is a basic white girl. I don't say that as a bad thing, and she seems to know this too. That's what made this show so strong: she played to her strengths and wasn't trying to be anything she's not. That's why, as my friend Mitchel so eloquently put, the show felt so honest. Her outfits, stage design, lighting effects, quips, and tangents were nothing unique, but expertly done and well-suited for her.
I guess I should go into more specific examples of what made this show so strong. To start, the stage itself was elegantly assembled. It featured a pretty simple, staggered setup, with a large, flat front, raised sections for the band to stand, and large sheer curtains that projected images that actually matched the songs she was singing (my personal favorite was when she was singing With Love and the background was a projection of New York City, with a live camera on her that made it appear as though she was performing on a large screen on the Empire State Building. A very subtle, and hilarious, nod to her infamous Good Morning America performance that I mentioned at the beginning of this post). I was standing in the very back of the lawn at the Xfinity Center (which, if you don't know, is notorious for having horrible sightlines to the stage) and still managed to appreciate the elegance and beauty of the stage design. I hate to compare women, but as a white gay man, it is my job to pit pop queens against each other, so I would be remiss to not compare this stage setup to Ariana Grande's stage setup for her Eternal Sunshine tour. Ariana had a beautiful stage setup, but the problem was that it was poorly suited for an arena show. I couldn't truly admire the detail and design that went into the house that was on stage, which was frustrating since her entire tour was composed of playing in arenas. Hilary, on the other hand, still managed to make the stage seem grand enough for even a gay guy with horrendous vision and no taste (like me) appreciate its beauty and elegance.
The color palette that Hilary chose for the lighting design of this show was fantastic as well. It suited her perfectly! It was simple and straightforward, but made the entire show seem colorful and happy. Every aspect of the lighting design flowed perfectly together, and nothing ever seemed random or out of place (I will mention that the flaming fireballs she added when singing The Math was a bit kitschy, but again, this is Hilary Duff: her entire image can be described as "a bit kitschy". But goddamn she did "a bit kitschy" EXPERTLY).
Speaking of kitschy.. her voice sounded INCREDIBLE! I was really blown away at how crisp she sounded (I can't take credit for that descriptor, thank you Max Nolan!) I've mentioned this before, but I really don't mind when pop singers rely on backing vocals a bit too heavily; they're on stage dancing and running around, and it can be hard to do all that AND sing at the same time. But at no point did Hilary lean on the backing vocals; if she needed a break or a pause, she just let the audience take over. Granted, she wasn't exactly doing acrobatics on stage a la P!nk, but nonetheless, her voice and breath control were wildly impressive. I should mention, however, that while I was writing this review, I stumbled upon this video (it's the same video I linked in my intro, FYI) of singer JoJo explaining how concerts have changed over the years and common it is for singers to use pitch correction tools while on stage. Do I think Hilary was using live autotune or pitch correction? She probably was! But as JoJo explains, that's the name of the game these days.
"One missed note, one crack... and it can just go viral. 89 minutes of wonderful singing is [then] going to get ignored" - JoJo in the linked video
As I said before, I don't mind when pop singers (I keep using pop singers as a reference point since most pop shows are the ones where the performers are doing all kinds of ridiculous acrobatics) rely on backing vocals to keep them sounding in tune during a live show, so I really don't mind this shift. I go to concerts to be entertained and breathe the same air as my favorite singers (and of course, sing along when I can). When it comes to seeing Hilary Duff live, I was never expecting Cynthia Erivo-level vocal talent, AND I THINK THAT IS OKAY! It's all about managing expectations.
Her costuming throughout her show as well was perfectly suited for her: simple and straightforward, yet flattering and beautiful. One of my personal favorite moments of the show (although I think it dragged on just a bit too long... more on that in the next section) was when she came on stage in nothing but a large t shirt and sweatpants, and chugged a wine glass full of clam chowder to honor all the Bostonians in the crowd. It was a perfect costuming choice for that section of the performance; she was sitting on stage, enjoying and sharing what seemed like an intimate moment with the crowd, discussing her history and her love for Massachusetts. Every moment during the entire show felt intentional but natural (again, coming back to Mitchel's description of the show: "honest"), and I think the outfit choices significantly helped with this feeling.
The setlist was paced perfectly as well. Hilary & her team did a great job mixing in songs from her new album luck... or something with her old hits like "Come Clean", "The Math", "Fly", and "Breathe In. Breathe Out." Each album from her discography had its moment in the spotlight, and the setlist itself flowed very well. The whole show almost felt like a perfect cosine curve; starting off at a high, slowly slowing down the tempo, only to pick it right back up and end on a high note with "What Dreams Are Made Of". Her quips in between songs were great as well. Absolutely lost my mind when she gave a huge shoutout to "her gays".
"I just want to thank all of my girls that are here, you all look so beautiful. Thank you for growing up with me. And shoutout to my gays of course! I love my gays so much" - Hilary Duff during her Mansfield show, who can objectify/commodify me any time she wants.
The last, and probably biggest, thing I want to mention about this show (that I also referenced in my intro) is the community Hilary brought together. I showed up with 3 friends at around 4:30 to tailgate in the Xfinity Center reserved parking lot (yes, reserved. I may have been sitting on the lawn but I'll be damned if I'm not going to shell out extra money to not have to wait in the Xfinity Center parking lot for up to 3 hours to get out.) We broke out our snacks, drinks, and a birthday cake to celebrate my turning 29, and almost immediately was met with a chorus of "Happy Birthday"'s from all around the parking lot. Everyone who was also there was so happy to be there! At one point, a girl next to us was practicing the With Love GMA dance, and asked if we wanted to join (I honestly would have, but that would have required getting up from my seat, which I was not emotionally ready to do in that moment). The joy was infectious. Some wonderful ladies offered our group tequila shots, we all got free keychains from another girl who hand-made them, and Mitchel and Ashlei got many compliments on their Cadet Kelly & Y2K looks. It reminded me of why I love going to concerts so much: when everyone is excited to see a performance, it brings up the mood so much. This felt different than the Eras Tour, however (I keep using the Eras Tour as an example simply because of the cultural phenomenon that is was, and it's also an example most people would understand and comprehend): the Eras Tour was all about Taylor; the "lucky me" tour was much more than seeing Hilary Duff. It almost felt like a celebration of girlhood and childhood and how far we all have grown and come along since Hilary's Lizzie McGuire days. That cultural celebratory feeling is not something an artist can manufacture; it's a completely natural state that I have experienced only four times before: at both Beyonce concerts I have attended (Renaissance World Tour and Cowboy Carter)*, at Kendrick and SZA's Grand National concert, and at Kesha's 2025 Tits Out concert. While of course everyone was there to see that specific artist, there was also a vibe in the air that felt as if the show itself was a celebration; a victory lap for everyone in attendance for surviving and making it through whatever struggles they are facing/have faced.
Weaknesses
I'll be honest, friends, I am having a difficult time coming up with glaring weaknesses during the show. Hilary did a fantastic job, but I have to say that this show won't get a perfect 5 rating for 2 small reasons and 1 big reason.
The two small reasons are as follows:
the interlude before singing Adult Size Medium in which she drinks a glass of wine, eats some clam chowder, and tries some munchkins from Dunkin dragged on for just a little bit too long. I was starting to get bored and annoyed that she seemed so reluctant to each the damn Clam Chowder that was given to her in a wine glass (for context, reader, it seems that at each show, this part is where Hilary tries a local food or drink that is famous. For MA, of course, it was Munchkins from Dunkin and Clam Chowder). Girl, just eat the clam chowder and get back to the show! In all seriousness, it was an adorable moment, but went on for way too long.
The second small thing is that the dance break and intro she did before singing "Fly" was... a little awkward. My beautiful queen is clearly not a great dancer, and that's okay! She didn't do much dancing during her show, which was a smart move. The times she did bust a move, however (not including when she invited fans on stage to do the With Love dance... I don't even want to count how many times I have referenced that dance in this post at this point) were a bit clumsy and took me out of the moment.
The biggest reason I can't give this show 5 stars is that nothing about the show was different or unique from any other cookie-cutter large-scale pop show. As I mentioned before, Hilary Duff is pretty basic when it comes to her music. Nothing about her catalog reinvents the poop music wheel or is innovative. Frankly, however, not every artist needs to do something drastic or innovative to be good. And that's what Hilary Duff did so expertly; she didn't try to be anything she's not or go experimental. She just did what she does best: stayed smack in the middle of the road. But god damn if she didn't drive the hell out of that middle line.
I'm giving this show a 4.5 out of 5. My highest rating thus far! Good work Lizzie.
Best moments from the show
Hilary shouting out "her gays" - I melted!
Free tequila shots from a group of 30-something queens
"Girl dinner!" - Hilary, on eating clam chowder and drinking orange wine on stage.
"I was promised that no AI was used when coming up with some of these puns" - Hilary on describing how her team makes little puns for each city she's performing in to share with the audience.
Obviously, the GMA Dance with fans.
Quick little note
I met my wonderful friend Katherine back in 2021 while drunk at a dive bar in Southie. She approached me because she overheard me discussing my tenure at UNC-Chapel Hill, and stated she had gone to Elon. We immediately bonded and she ended up drunkenly inviting me to her birthday party, which I of course attended. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy being the "guy Katherine met drunk at a bar" the day of her birthday party. We have been incredibly close ever since that moment. I can't think of anyone that I would have rather had this experience with; Katherine, I love you so much and love going to shows with you. Thanks for being my friend <3.
tour setlist
Wake Up (With extended intro and elements of "Mature")
So Yesterday
Roommates
Weather for Tennis
Play With Fire
Breathe In. Breathe Out.
Sparks (Shortened)
Future Tripping
With Love
(with excerpts of "Dignity")
Beat of My Heart
You, from the Honeymoon
Anywhere but Here
Growing Up
Fly (with Extended Intro)
Holiday Party
We Don't Talk
Why Not
Adult Size Medium
The Math (NEW TO THE SETLIST!)
Come Clean
(Brief interlude with a mashup of old Lizzie McGuire BTS clips)
Mature
What Dreams Are Made Of