Jesse McCartney will be performing in Columbus May 4 for his ‘New Stage’ tour. Credit: Courtesy of Sam Dameshek
Ohio State students can celebrate the end of exam season and the beginning of summer break by revisiting their childhoods at one of Jesse McCartney’s first performances of his summer 2022 American tour.
McCartney’s “New Stage” tour will arrive at Columbus’ Kemba Live! Venue on May 4 after kicking off May 3 in Cincinnati. As McCartney’s longest and first American tour since the COVID-19 pandemic, he will perform in 34 cities over the course of eight weeks, he said.
“I want to get out there and play live music,” McCartney said. “I think the fans are waiting, and willing and are ready for that as well, given the circumstances that we’ve had over the last couple years.”
McCartney is known for releasing popular pop songs in the early 2000s, such as “Beautiful Soul” and “Leavin,’” according to his website.
McCartney said he finished his sixth studio album,“New Stage,” in January 2020, but did not release it until October 2021 due to the pandemic.
“It’s actually sort of a piece, a look and a glimpse back at what it’s been like for the past 16 to 17 years, starting from ‘Beautiful Soul’ on,” McCartney said. “It’s sort of like I’m standing on the outside looking in at this wonderful career that I’ve built and sort of just reflecting on it and talking about what it was like for me personally.”
His 2004 debut single “Beautiful Soul” gave McCartney the momentum to set him on his current career path, which he was able to reflect on in “New Stage,” he said.
“I remember I was walking out of my SAT when I heard it for the first time on the radio, and I just remember thinking ‘I don’t think I did that well on my math portion.’ But I knew that it felt like it didn’t really matter because I had a song on the radio,” McCartney said.
McCartney said he recently realized he has a strong fan base comprised of those in college.
“We quickly realized that I had still a lot of fans in college that grew up listening to my stuff,” McCartney said. “I think for the college fans it was a bit nostalgic, but still you can see songs like ‘Beautiful Soul’, ‘Leavin’’, but especially ‘Beautiful Soul’ has crossed into the new generation.”
A United Kingdom artist Jamie Miller will open for McCartney for his first ever tour. Miller grew up watching and listening to McCartney’s early work, he said.
“He asked me if I wanted to join the tour, and I think that the inner-child in me, like I grew up watching like ‘Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ and stuff like that. So, I was like ‘yeah, I’m super down to do it,’” Miller said.
Miller said both he and McCartney are looking forward to performing live for the first time since the pandemic and are excited to engage with a live audience.
“I think it’s going to be a great show, and I’m just really excited for people to come out and see me perform,” Miller said.
