Concert Review: Destin Conrad at House of Blues Chicago 10/07/2025

The first time I ever heard Destin Conrad’s name was in April of this year. I learned via Instagram that he had released a song with one of my favorite artists of all time, another up-and-coming voice in the R&B scene: Teezo Touchdown. Their collaboration is called THE LAST TIME; it’s a swooping, mid-tempo bop about ending things with a neglectful lover. Regrettably, this song was not the catalyst to my new-found Destin Conrad obsession. No, that came about a month and a half later with Conrad’s release of the song Kissing In Public, a song on his then-upcoming debut album Love On Digital.

Kissing In Public was absolutely my song of the summer. The song’s beat simmers like heat off of hot concrete as Conrad’s voice floats seamlessly through lyrics that sing a hymn to the intimacy of PDA. The subsequent Love On Digital, released some nine days later, proved to be an impeccable continuation of the beautiful, scintillating universe that Conrad had established with the release of THE LAST TIME.

What also spoke to me about this album, besides its sound being so complimentary to summer, was the vulnerability that Conrad lets shine through. On the bouncy and danceable Jumpin’, he sings, "I’ve been feelin' crazy / My thoughts been intrusive / And I miss my baby / You really tryna play me / Feel like you hatе me." On a personal favorite track of mine, the lovely yet apologetic Make It Up, Conrad sings, "I know I said I would make it out tonight / But somethin' in my body just ain't sittin' right / I'm sorry that I let you down, l-lеt you down / Babe, I'm in the zone, think I'm stayin' homе." On the harmonic anthem So Nice, he sings, "I'm not perfect but I make do / I'm on the verge of a breakthrough / I'm finding beauty in the silence / I got more peace than I got violent / Negativity behind me." The whole project was very relatable for me! He has songs for the chronic plan-cancelers, the yearners, the people who want to dance the bad feelings away. So, when he announced his subsequent Love On Digital tour, there was no way in hell I was going to miss it.

I am a student from out of state, and when the Love On Digital tour went on sale, I was still living in my home state of Washington. In general, I really dislike the Seattle concert crowd. There are exceptions of course, like when I saw the aforementioned Teezo Touchdown, I had an incredible, very energetic night! But for the most part my experiences have just been very lame; nobody singing, nobody dancing, everybody just acting too cool to actually engage with the music they paid to see. When I moved to Chicago, I was really hoping that this would be different. And luckily for me, it was.

I got to the venue, Chicago’s House of Blues location, around 7:00pm. My ticket said that music started at the very early time of 5:30pm, and I thought: there is absolutely no way that music will be starting that early! I was only partially right. Music had clearly not begun at 5:30, but by the time I got there I had already missed half of the opening act, another R&B artist and close collaborator of Conrad’s by the name of Mack Keane. Keane’s voice is high and incredibly smooth, and I was dancing all throughout his set. The highlight of his set, for me, was his performance of an unreleased song called Candy Crush. The song was extremely catchy and very fun, and I am excitedly awaiting its release. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Keane return to the stage after his set to assist Conrad with backing vocals, and as his keyboardist. The duo also performed the song they collaborated on with another artist by the name of ESTA.: O.M.L., a lowkey track off of Keane and ESTA.’s joint 2022 EP Intersections.

From the get go, even though most people in the venue seemed to not know Keane, the vibe was amazing. Even as concert-goers continued to filter in throughout the last half of his set, people were dancing and cheering. In between the sets, the speakers played what I can only assume to be a playlist curated by Conrad to fill the empty space between artists. Hits like Beyoncé’s Be With You and Keyshia Cole’s Let It Go brought the energy out in the room; everybody was singing along, dancing, chatting and laughing with the people standing next to them, and just in general having a great time. These songs also ramped up the anticipation for Conrad to take the stage. When he finally did, it was electric.

Intro’d by Love On Digital’s outro, a minute-long song aptly titled Outro, Conrad took the stage in a fabulous look of head-to-toe sparkles, paired with his now-signature short blond curls. It’s safe to say that Conrad is easily one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen in person.

Photo by Kamil Surma

The first song he performed was the second track from Love On Digital, the laid-back and melodic Mr. E. From there, he continued with songs from his debut album. He performed P.B.S., a very energetic collaboration with Lil Nas X, and another personal favorite track of mine, the intoxicatingly catchy jersey club with Kehlani, Bad Bitches.

After the Love On Digital tracks, Conrad segued into older music. An early standout among these pre-Love On Digital songs was Mariposa, a bachata-inspired track off of Conrad’s 2023 EP Submissive. The crowed loved this one, too. Everybody around me was moving, dancing, singing, and there was even a couple against the bar making out in a way that seemed extremely serious.

But after his older music, Conrad performed a very new song, even newer than any of Love On Digital’s genius. He performed the track wASH YOU AWAY from his brand new alternative jazz album: wHIMSY. When wHIMSY dropped, I was shocked. It was released on August 28th, some four months after Love On Digital with very little promotion (if you can event count a couple of Instagram posts as promotion.) I had wondered before the concert if any of these songs would be performed, if Conrad had released the album right before his tour started so that he could combine his albums into one big, beautiful set list. But no, wASH YOU AWAY was the only song from wHIMSY that he played. I hope that this is a sign he will give wHIMSY it’s own tour. That, however, is a big ask for a man currently on a tour that doesn’t end until mid-December. But I’m hoping! Regardless, I was still thrilled to hear wASH YOU AWAY.

The rest of the concert was a masterful weaving together of Conrad’s old and new songs. He played a song from everyone of his previous EPs, from the debut Colorway, to Love On Digital’s very sultry predecessor Submissive 2. For me though, despite the absolutely amazing performance I had been experiencing so far, the magic reached its peak during the last three songs on the setlist.

The third to last track was Love On Digital’s very own So Nice, the therapeutic mantra about loving life. It was an early standout for me on the album due to its positivity and hopefulness. When I listen to the song, I treat it like a manifestation tool, so hearing it live was a very healing experience for me. The crowd around me also made me love the song even more. It’s clear that the song and it’s gratitude really resonated with people, and I was definitely not alone in my deep love for it.

The second to last track was In The Air, Conrad’s most streamed song on Apple Music to date, and the standout track from his very first project, Colorway. This is not a song that I have spent very much time with before, but it was clear from the volume of the crowd that it is very beloved by the people who have been fans of Conrad for much longer than me. As who only jumped onto the Destin Conrad bandwagon this year, it’s clear that I have my homework to do in the form of spending more time with his older music..

In between In The Air and the final song, Kissing In Public, Conrad did the very classic fake out: saying goodbye to the crowd, hoping that we get home safe, and then waving ‘goodbye’ with a big smile on his face before disappearing off stage to create anticipation for the encore performance of the most popular song from his current musical era. Of course, for me, who knew that there was no way in hell he was going to end the night without playing Kissing In Public, all this brief well-wishing did was make me more excited. And thank God he didn’t take too much time backstage, because I was starting to get antsy. People were leaving, more people next to me murmuring about the lack of Kissing In Public, and I was preemptively humming its chorus in anticipation. Hearing the opening notes of that song live and in person was easily one of the greatest moments of my concert going life. I’m sorry (but not that much!) to everybody in my direct vicinity who had to hear my very loud, very off-key singing. It was an absolutely perfect end to the night.

The cherry on top of was that, due to the concerts early start time, the end time was similarly early. I was snug as a bug in a rug, back in my dorm, by 9:30! There was still enough time in the night to call both my mom and my friends about my night. I am still riding the high from this night, and the energy of what was easily the best concert crowd of my life. If (and I am really hoping that he does) Conrad has another tour planned for wHIMSY, there is nothing in the world that I would miss it for. His voice is so gorgeous and effortless, and he has incredible and entertaining stage presence. He is an incredible musician, and I could not be more excited to see what direction he takes his art in the future.

Setlist:

1. OUTRO

2. MR. E

3. PARTY WIT U

4. JUMPIN’

5. P.B.S.

6. BAD BITCHES

7. DELUSIONAL

8. MARIPOSA

9. LOW TIDE

10. NOBODY KNOWS

11. O.M.L. (Mack Keane & ESTA. feat. Destin Conrad)

12. wASH U AWAY

13. DAY DREAM

14. ON 10

15. LUV N DEVOTION

16. OUTTA CONTROL

17. SWITCH

18. FMU!

19. THE LAST TIME

20. WAR!

21. BILL$

22. EXCITED!

23. YOUR LADY (INTERLUDE)

24. MAKE IT UP

25. SAME MISTAKE

26. IT’S ONLY YOU

27. IT’S YOURS

28. SO NICE

29. IN THE AIR

30. KISSING IN PUBLIC