Zayn Plays Two Sold Out Shows in NYC
by Caitlin Dennis | January 27th, 2025
Photo by Caitlin Dennis | @cait.dennis.photography
This past weekend Zayn made his way to his second stop on his US leg of the ‘Stairway to Heaven Tour.’ Zayn released his latest album ‘Room Under The Stairs’ (the album that prompted the tour as well) last year and fans fell in love. Fans have not only been waiting since his One Direction days to see him again, but after the tragic passing of his former bandmate Liam, he pushed his tour back a couple more months. Everyone was eager. So eager in fact some fans were lined up outside of the venue in the freezing cold over twelve hours before the show. Some fans who were attending both night one and night two, had even started lining up right after the show was over on night one!
Photo by Caitlin Dennis | @cait.dennis.photography
I had the pleasure of attending the Friday night show. While you could tell fans wanted him to play more of his previously released music since he’s never toured solo prior to this, everyone was still singing along to every word. He did play a solid mix of his discography however. A handful of songs from his previous three albums made the cut. A fully female band accompanied him on stage as well, which is always exciting to see! They were absolutely phenomenal and their vocals were heavenly, pumping out some beautiful harmonies and chords as the set went on.
The set as a whole had a really relaxed laid back vibe, as some of the instrumentals and vocals were more stripped back. Throughout the show it was clear that he had missed feeling the energy of the fans that comes with touring. Every time he stopped to banter a bit, you could hear in his voice that he was having a fun time, checking in with the crowd, and sharing his excitement to keep playing music. As he sipped on a mug of tea throughout the show, the setlist included features from the ‘Z-sides’ of his latest album, a single song from his third album (that I learned from fans in line his dad may have been the one to convince him to put the song on the setlist) ‘Sweat’, his big radio hit ‘Pillowtalk’, and even a Paolo Nutini cover! His live vocals are insane, reaching falsetto notes that echoed through the venue beautifully. He ended the show with a beautiful tribute to his former bandmate Liam while ‘Stardust’ played and he did not return for an encore.
It was a great show and if you have the chance to see him live it really is a must see. It truly felt like a once in a blue moon opportunity because no one really knows if he will ever do this again. We can hope and with this momentum in his career right now that he will tour the next album he writes, or maybe even a longer set with more of the albums he didn’t tour for!
