After touring through the US on the ‘Wholesome Rockstar’ tour since the beginning of May, the 21-year-old artist closes out his tour with a big celebration in his ‘hometown’ Los Angeles. The final night on June 18th is the third night in a row in sold out shows at the Wiltern, already a sign this night is going to get very loud.
The evening starts with a DJ set by Sophie Gray, getting the crowd all pumped up for Malcolm’s final show. With songs like Cardi B’s WAP and Lady Gaga’s Poker Face on her playlist and a very enthusiastic and happy attitude throughout it all, it’s hard to stay still during this set. To really get everyone going, two guys in red jumpsuits with ‘THING 1’ and ‘THING 2’ written on the front, start dancing around on stage, getting a lot of hype from the people on the floor. The response from the crowd to Sophie is a first sign on how loud tonight’s show will turn out.
From the first moment he steps on stage, most of the crowd starts with thunderous screams, getting Malcolm to comment on it on multiple occasions, hoping out loud he’ll end the last show with the loudest crowd. Since it’s the closing night of the tour, there are a couple of surprises for the Wiltern, with his sister Audrey Hobert coming up on stage to sing a cover of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ with him. When she gets off stage, there’s a bit of banter between the two, the way only siblings can be towards each other. Anything can happen during hometown closing shows, with the singer also wearing a green wig for ‘Cheer Me On’, as well as some moments where Malcolm shows a bit of skin, every time met with the loudest screams. Moments like this in between are showing a more frivolous side of the singer, marking the night with a bit more silliness, and you can tell Malcolm is enjoying every moment of this last night, just as much as the crowd is.
There’s a short acoustic break halfway through the show as well, where Malcolm gets to shine on his own without his band, and in moments like this you can really feel how deep the love for music runs, and how much it makes people connect with it on a deeply personal level. The crowd’s harmonizing along to the slower songs is absolutely breathtaking, and at the end of the set, during ‘I’ll Come Back For You’, a bunch of fans show their love by holding pink paper hearts over their phone’s flashlights. The night ends with confetti blasting out over the crowd in the last song, as the joyful finale for the ‘Wholesome Rockstar’ tour couldn’t possibly go without it.
Malcolm’s stage is set with a park bench, white picket fence and a lot of greenery, linking back to the photo of his debut self-titled record that got released in April this year. The young singer seems very at ease on the stage, moving around as if he’s been doing it forever. You wouldn’t think he’s just released his debut, with a stage presence that feels like he’s been doing this for decades. At the same time, he has such a sincere energy to him, and the somewhat contradicting traits make his ‘wholesome rockstar’ moniker come true in every aspect of the show, his music and ultimately in Malcolm Todd himself.
GALLERY: MALCOLM TODD AT THE WILTERN IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (JUNE 18, 2025)
