If Lizzy McAlpine and Phoebe Bridgers had a baby, they would name her Sydney Rose.

Prince Bandroom might have just had their most mystical night of the year. An enchanting garden party full of flower-crowns and long white skirts—or to put it simply, a Sydney Rose concert. 

The opening act might be your average cute boy with a guitar, but Charlie Pittman’s music echoes with the promise of something lasting. As the clock struck 8:30 pm, we were welcomed by Pittman, supported by his friend and budding artist KCH. Starting off strong with his crowd favourite track, “death row”, Pittman then launched into his loverboy lineup with songs like “tattoo”, “get yourself together”, and “in your system”. Followed by a sneak peek into his unreleased tracks, the young singer crooned how even after heartbreak, obsession doesn’t end. “You’re glued to my tongue,” he sang, romance buzzing. Charlie’s energy on stage was infectious and youthful, lighting up the room with an easy, magnetic charm. 

With the stage set, lights dimmed, and a quiet kind of magic in the air, it was officially time for Sydney Rose! The crowd shook with anticipation, screaming at the top of their lungs as her band took the stage, followed by her stepping into the ethereal spotlight.

Like a late-night confession whispered into headphones, she opened with “31”— a soft-sung requiem of adulthood and nostalgia. The room was in a reverie, as she launched into one of her more hopeful songs, “You’d Be Stars”. The crowd was simmering with a collective desire to go back to their best friends and have those late-night conversations, the ones that make everyone feel complete. “I Stopped Trying” came next, and Rose confessed how this was the last time she’d perform this song on tour. “Why diminish your love for someone by being nonchalant?” she said. 

Joined on stage by Pittman for her duet “Over”, their palpable chemistry lit up the room. “There’s a show in front of me, but you’re all that I can see.” Was it just us, or did that sound like something Taylor Swift would write? Followed by an intimate line-up of fan favourites like “Bristol”, “5 More Minutes”, “Charlie” and “Listen To The Birds”, our time with Sydney Rose felt personal, as though she was sitting in our bedrooms with us. 

It was evident that everybody was excited to see what cover she had in store for the night, and she surprised everyone with “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers. Shifting to the piano for her TikTok sensation, “We Hug Now”, Rose had the crowd in a chokehold as they joined her in belting out the iconic lyric “You’re just thinking it’s a small thing that happened, the world ended when it happened to me.” She followed up with an unreleased track, “dreams”, built on a minimal, slow-tempo arrangement with soft guitar and airy vocals that let the melody take focus. “I delve in dreams,” she sang in gentle choruses, like a secret. Don’t despair, fans, you’ll know the rest shortly enough. To close, Rose performed “idk what I did”—the first song she ever wrote about herself. While a touch too nonchalant for a finale, this personal, introspective end was strangely fitting for the evening.

If you left the concert with a sudden urge to:

1. Romanticise your life
2. Text someone you probably shouldn't
3. Go back in time and never grow up

then you’ve experienced Sydney Rose exactly as intended: tender, nostalgic and a little bit magical.