Fans of all ages packed in close at the Hollywood Bowl Friday to witness a rare experience in today’s music landscape: A full-fledged Miley Cyrus solo concert.
The 33-year-old pop star, going by just Miley these days, has been open about the tolls that performing live takes on her mental health and wellness. As a result, it’s been a near-decade since her last large-scale world tour, and four years since her last major concert. Even during Friday’s performance, the singer was honest about the fact she wasn’t sure if she’d ever do a show of this scale again, attributing her desire to do these shows in part due to her late godmother, country music icon Dolly Parton, who died earlier this this year.
“For me, performance can’t be everything because the curtain closes and the lights go down, and I have to go back home and be happy with who I am,” the pop star told the crowd. “I really appreciate you all honoring that and respecting and celebrating and supporting and encouraging me, finding this balance in my life where I can really have everything that I’ve ever wanted.”
Dubbed Bass Persuades Live at the Hollywood Bowl, Friday’s concert, the first of two this weekend, was held in support of her latest album Bass Persuades. Her fans have been patiently waiting for the day she’d return — the 1.5 million people that joined the queue for the roughly 36,000 tickets across the two nights are serving as proof.
The singer kicked off the night with material from Bass Persuades, unsurprisingly, given the show’s name. She took the stage after one of what would be several pre-recorded, black-and-white videos of the star spoke directly to the crowd.
“‘Hello.’ A voice greets me that sounds more like a mirror. ‘Make a record.’ Oh, that’s very specific for an angel,” pre-recorded Cyrus said to the crowd. “You will stand on that same stage held by the people, the sound and the desire that’s carried you all the way to your destiny. And sitting behind you is the rest of your life, but nothing waits forever.”
Cyrus reiterated many times that she was grateful to her fans for being understanding about where she’s at in her career. “I didn’t know that if live performance was going to be a part of my future, if this was something that I wanted to dedicate and devote myself to, because that’s what it really is,” she said. “Tonight, it isn’t just the night for us, but it’s all the preparation of everyone that is behind the scenes that you’ll never get to see that make this show possible.”
The 18-song set — which included two surprise guests in the form of The Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne, a collaborator of the pop star, and her fiance Maxx Morando, another collaborator — included both new and old hits, but the experience was admittedly different for each.
Cyrus clearly felt the most passionate about the newer material, belting the words to the songs from Bass Persuades, while tending to let the backtrack and the crowd lead on some of her older hits like “Party in the USA” and “We Can’t Stop.” Her Hannah Montana movie track “The Climb” received one of the biggest reactions of the night, with the entire crowd singing along. Her 2013 hit single “Wrecking Ball” took on a new arrangement for the show, skipping the iconic shift into the chorus.
Sure, the hits were lighter on Cyrus’ live vocals, but they were still endlessly enjoyable and emotional for both the singer and the crowd. Cyrus could have stood onstage with a laptop playing music videos, a la Justin Bieber’s Coachella headlining set, and the sold-out crowd, would’ve still likely counted the night as a success.
The most emotional moment of the evening came in the form of a tribute to Parton, who Cyrus has often referred to as Aunt Dolly. As the pop star’s godmother, Parton has been close with Cyrus her entire life. The singer broke down in tears speaking about the country music pioneer as the intro to Parton’s iconic song “Jolene” played in the background. She told a story of her experience seeing Parton at the Hollywood Bowl before covering “Jolene.” Later in the show, during “Wrecking Ball,” her Aunt Dolly’s favorite song, she clutched a small photo of Parton in a heart-shaped frame to her chest.
Friday’s performance was cathartic for the audience, and clearly for Cyrus, who’s seemingly found the balance for her life as a pop star that she’s been looking for. She told the crowd she was excited to perform at the iconic venue all day, but she’d been equally excited to have acquired a new fish that day. These Hollywood Bowl performances were as much for Cyrus as they were for the crowd.
“Being able to create a life that I get to wake up every day and have those joys that give me meaning and purpose — I’m proud to be a person that those kinds of things bring me just as much joy as performing for almost 18,000 people here tonight,” she told the crowd midway through the show. “Being able to live a life in true harmony and have everything that I’ve ever wanted… Every dream that I’ve been able to conjure and make a reality, I’m experiencing here today. October 16th. This is like a new holiday in my life.”
She didn’t, of course, forget the fans. “It’s been 20 years of us on this journey, this evolution and this metamorphosis. You all, you have not skipped a beat. I am so, so appreciative of your support,” she said. “It’s been steadfast, and it’s been deeply felt. The appreciation I have for you is never forgotten on show days.”
Cyrus, preparing to launch into her 2013 anthem “We Can’t Stop,” finished her speech with more gratitude. “Because of you, I get to have the life that is everything I could have ever imagined. I have love, I have animals, I have all of you, I have music, I have creativity. I have someone else, and I just love my life. It’s the most beautiful. Thank you all for making it that way.”
Cyrus returns for the second and final night of Bass Persuades Live at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, Oct. 18.