CONAN GRAY LIVE!! | LENOVO CENTER
Coverage by Larissa Blankenship
On March 4th, The Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC was packed to the brim with fans singing along to Oliva Rodrigo’s track “bad idea right?”. As the crowd sang the iconic “stop” the arena fell into darkness. The lights lifted and the band took the stage striking the first few chords of “My World” making the crowd scream even louder. From the right side of the stage an iconic red bike rolled into view driven by Conan Gray wearing a white sailor uniform. Dropping the bike and running to a mailbox with “Raleigh, NC, 03/04/26” in stickers on the side, Gray traded a postcard for a microphone. Turning to look out over the crowd, the North Carolina stop of the Wishbone World Tour officially began.
Gray’s musical journey has been a steady climb to the top since the release of his first single “Idle Town” in 2017. The song was met with incredible support and his fan base grew exponentially from there. The singer/songwriter from Texas later signed to Republic Records and released his debut EP Sunset Season, full of indie-pop beats and emotional lyrics. In 2020 Gray released his first full length album titled Kid Krow, which included some of his instant hits such as “Heather” and “Wish You Were Sober”. Gray has since released three additional albums, the most recent being Wishbone in August of 2025. Gray’s songs mainly focus on his own life, reflecting on his experiences growing up and his relationships as he has gotten older. Since the beginning Grays songs have contained relatable lyrics and catchy beat that have a way of bringing you back in for more.
The night felt more like a theatre production than a concert in all the best ways. The show was broken into acts, each with their own costume and stage props. The night started in a picturesque field straight from the plains of the US; a windmill stood off to the left and grass filled the foreground. Each stage element and piece of clothing added to the ambiance but Gray’s stage presence was what really brough it all together. Dancing around the wishbone shaped stage, Gray barely stood still the whole show. The singer only slowed down slightly as he changed into a sparkly pajama set and moved into the second act of the night. As Gray sang “Eleven Eleven”, the crowd lit up with phone lights and swayed to the music.
Before moving to the third act the singer sat down at one end of the wishbone for a time of the night called “Conan’s Campfire”. During this section Gray explained he has so many songs he doesn’t get to play on tour and he wanted to sit down and play an acoustic surprise song at every show. The crowd erupted in cheers as Gray sang the first few words of the self-described “deep cut” “Fight or Flight” off of the Kid Krow album. The tempo picked back up with the third act, which started off with “Romeo”. Gray, wearing a romeo-esc outfit, popped up from a boat that was rolled onto stage into a lake scene. The crowd was then treated to an unreleased song titled “The Best” with the lyrics projected on the main screen so the fans could sing along. One of the most exciting points of each night is when Gray picks a fan out of the crowd to break a wishbone with him. If the fan wins, they get to pick the next song from two titles shown on the screen. Three lucky fans in lizard costumes were chosen from further back in the crowd. When the trio broke the wishbone they initially ended up with the short end, but Gray quickly handed them the second half declaring they had won. The fans chose “The Exit” which was met with loud cheers from the rest of the arena.
