Charlie Puth Presents The “Charlie” Live Experience

Singapore Indoor Stadium
Tuesday

For someone who has gained a reputation as a modern-day musical genius, Charlie Puth left much to be desired at his performance on Tuesday night.

A year after the American singer-songwriter was last in Singapore to promote his third studio album Charlie (2022), he returned to charm in his biggest show here yet at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

But the 31-year-old, whose last concert here was in 2018 at the smaller The Star Theatre, might have been more comfortable in a more intimate venue.

At times overpowered by his band and backing track, Puth struggled in the first half of the 75-minute concert to make his velvety voice heard.

He seemed awkward onstage during opening track Charlie Be Quiet!, loosening up considerably only when handed a strap-on keyboard.

Home must be where the keyboard is for the classically trained Puth, who alternated between a keytar, keyboard and piano throughout the night when performing hits from Charlie and his two other albums Nine Track Mind (2016) and Voicenotes (2018).

He often threw the microphone to an unprepared crowd, taking it back only to belt drawn-out, soulful high notes.

The 8,000-strong audience seemed mostly not to mind, gamely singing along to his more popular songs such as crowd-pleaser Attention, a song about being strung along and widely believed to be about Puth’s rumoured relationship with American singer-actress Selena Gomez.

Though his audience interaction was at times clumsy, Puth – who is known for his perfect pitch – knew what the fans came for.

“You were yelling to a D or E flat,” he teased at one point amid the screams. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it.”

He reminded everyone that he is a gifted producer by performing a jazzy rendition of Stay – which he co-wrote and produced for Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, that went on to break records globally.

Puth found a new community of fans on TikTok during the pandemic, when he started letting viewers into his unique songwriting process – turning mundane everyday sounds and noises made with different objects into music magic.

But for those familiar with his TikTok antics, he noticeably lacked the suave charisma of his online self.

He tried to exert a stage presence that would command the stadium, but seemed unable to shake off the awkward energy of an Internet personality.

He sang with more ease his speciality of indulgent love songs: Dangerously – “the song that brought him to Singapore” – and smash duet We Don’t Talk Anymore, which he improvised with additional verses from other R&B hits.

Love is never far from mind for the boyish singer, who announced in September his engagement to long-time family friend Brooke Sansone.

Will becoming a fiance mark the end of his heartbreak hits? Maybe not.

“It’s interesting how the heartbreak songs can be disguised as happy love songs – just with a chord change and a good beat,” Puth said, before segueing into introspective ballad Cheating On You.

The audience lapped up self-deprecating bops That’s Hilarious and Loser, then Puth’s freestyle solo on the keytar during How Long.

After a false end to the concert, he returned onstage for stripped-down performances of his earliest viral hits – One Call Away and See You Again – at the piano, which ended up being his best of the night.

Puth is no doubt a masterful musician, one who did not need to use the distractions of an overproduced show as crutches. If he had felt the pressure to fill a venue of that size, it showed.

Perhaps a simpler, sincere set drawing him closer to fans will serve him better in the future. He certainly has the vocal chops and musicality for it.