Back to the Beginning: In Real Life Returns to The Roxy

In 2017, several months after they first became a band, In Real Life played their first full show at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They played a set comprised of their first two singles, a couple of Christmas songs, and a few covers. Two years later, on October 5, 2019, they played The Roxy again. This time though, it was to a sold-out crowd on their second headlining North American tour. This set was comprised of songs off their debut album, She Do, a solo song written by each of the members, and just one cover. They brought it back to where it all started, but a lot has changed for the group since that first Roxy show.

In Real Life is comprised of members Brady Tutton, Chance Perez, Conor Smith, Drew Ramos, and Sergio Calderon Jr. They were created on the show Boy Band in the summer of 2017, and have since then released an album, been on several radio tours, supported American Idol Live, headlined their own tour, and made various television appearances. Currently, they are on their second North American tour, traveling the US with supporting acts Asher Angel, Elle Winter, and Jenna Raine.

Since the group is based out of Los Angeles and the show was sold out, the night of October 5th was set to be incredible. The line stretched for a couple blocks from the entrance of the venue three hours before doors were set to open. Eager fans secured their place in line as early as possible in order to ensure a good spot for the general admission sold-out show. VIP purchasers were let in a couple of hours before doors, where they had the opportunity to hang out, talk, and take pictures with the band

Jenna Raine took the stage first, followed by Elle Winter and lastly, Asher Angel. A close friend of the In Real Life guys, Asher had majority of the fans in the venue singing along to his set as well. As soon as his set was finished, you could feel the patience of the crowd start to waver. They waited in anticipation for In Real Life to come onstage. Finally, the lights went down, the curtain on the stage rose, and the boys were standing in front of the crowd. They began their set with the song “Somebody Like You,” which ended with a nice electric guitar and violin instrumental breakdown courtesy of Brady and Conor. Every song that followed was sung by the group with an energy and passion that was easily reciprocated by every fan in the audience. The crowd loudly sang and danced along to every one of the group’s hits.

Along with performances of their various singles and other songs off of the group’s debut album, In Real Life also treated fans to an acoustic and ukulele led rendition of Elvis Presley’s, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The vocals and harmonies showcased during the intimate performance of the song had audience members swaying, swooning, and singing along. Another unique element of the show was when each member performed a solo that they had all written individually. While Drew, Brady, and Conor delivered upbeat and energy-driven solos that had the crowd rapping and hyped the entire time, Chance and Sergio took a softer approach and delivered ballads accompanied by a guitar and Conor’s violin.

Brady performed his song “Lighten Up,” which various fans already knew the words to. Drew had fans vibing and bopping to his song “Hold You Down.” Conor rapped his “Do or Die” and “Lucky You” remixes while fans screamed the verses back to him. Right before Chance sang his song, “How Long,” fans had him emotional as they held up signs of an old tweet he had tweeted that said, “I want to travel the world, singing to crowd after crowd,” because in that moment he was doing just that. Sergio took to the stage, guitar in hand, and sang his song, “Not Sorry” while Conor played the violin and Brady helped with some backup vocals. Each member delivered their songs with so much passion and heart, leaving audience members wanting each of the solo songs to be released.

As the group wrapped up their set with well-known songs like “Tattoo (How ‘Bout You),” “How Badly,” and “Crazy AF” the show would not have been complete without an encore of their very first single, “Eyes Closed.” Everyone in that room sang and danced to the lyrics of that song with the most energy of the night. As Conor and Chance jumped into the crowd for Conor’s rap verse, and the lights went up over the crowd it was obvious that these five guys had made quite an impact on every person in that room. Friends, family, and fans alike demonstrated a pure sense of joy in that room that night. The room where it all started two years ago. Any fan that was there for each of those performances probably felt extremely lucky to have experienced both. After the final bow Sergio’s brother brought a cake onstage, so that the crowd could sing Happy Birthday to the two of them, seeing as their birthday was the next day. It was the best way to end the show.

If you haven’t check out an In Real Life show, or even heard an In Real Life song, now might be the time to change that. The group incorporates so many unique elements into their songs and performances that are unlike any other boyband. There’s rapping, Spanish, rapping in Spanish, and the occasional violin that you’ll hear during an In Real Life performance. It’s only the beginning for these guys—they’ve mentioned time and time again that they believe they have begun to really discover who they are as a group and what sort of music they intend to release. I heard we’re getting another Christmas song soon, and I’m sure there will be even more that follows.