Concert Review: Alex Warren Xfinity Mobile Arena

Photo Credit: Jesse Faatz

Over the weekend, singer-songwriter and TikTok star Alex Warren pulled into Philly’s Xfinity Mobile Arena with his “Finding Family on the Road Tour,” and to say there was anything “Ordinary” about it would be a lie.

I have been a fan of Warren’s since before I knew he was interested in being a musician through his work on TikTok. I remember seeing the first video where he was showing music he was working on, and I was both shocked and impressed—thinking and hoping he made something of that. Fast forward to now, and not only has he made something of it, but he’s done that and so much more for himself and thousands of others. Over the past five years, Warren has accomplished plenty—he’s been releasing music, obtained Grammy nominations, had multi-week spans at the top of the charts, plus multiple viral singles, on top of numerous sold-out tours. While finishing up his last tour, “Cheaper Than Therapy,” in 2025, Warren released the second half of his debut album, “You’ll Be Alright Kid,” which is where most of his 20-song set from this current tour comes from, plus a few off his next album, “Wildchild,” coming out August 28.

Our night at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia started with the opener Noah Cyrus, younger sister of the world-famous Miley Cyrus, and the similarities come through in her singing while still having her own unique feel to it. Noah performed a beautiful and melodic set across 10 songs, with her sound and aesthetic something reminiscent of a cross between Stevie Nicks and her own sister. After Noah finished up, it was time for the big show to start.

Warren started the show with a montage of video footage seemingly taken by his father—who is the subject of some of the songs for the night—showing memories of his childhood and how long he’s wanted to be a musician. Warren started the night on a high note with some of his more upbeat and uplifting songs like “Trouble Waters” and “Bloodline.”

Anyone who has followed Warren on his social media knows that not only is he a talented musician, but he is also hilarious. A few of the highlights of the night were the between-song banter and the sprinkling of some out-of-pocket, dark humor right from the beginning. One example: He tried to warn the kids in the audience not to repeat him before going into the next song by saying, “I’m not saying cussing too much killed my parents but…”. He proceeded to play a few more songs before going back and forth with many different audience members, observing and joking with them about their signs and costumes. “I don't know what it is lately but for some reason people keep showing up to my shows looking like the clearance section of Party City,” he quipped, while pointing out some of the more notable costumes such as multiple Loraxes, corn on the cob, a hot dog, the founding fathers, and a few more odd ones.

Continuing on with the night, eventually we moved over to the B-stage where we dove into some of the more emotional songs and a small monologue from Warren himself about life and grief, which truthfully brought me to tears for the first time that night right before playing “Same Stars,” an unreleased song from his upcoming album and a beautiful ballad on loss and grief. Warren has talked about it often, and even during the show, about the loss of his father at a young age and how his relationship with his mother fell apart before her passing in 2021. When you look at his songs and discography, two things are very evident: the magnitude of how his grief has shaped him, and how much he loves his wife, Kouvr. Before leaving the B-stage, he talked about how the internet—and one specific faction of TikTok, known as “BookTok”—helped breathe life into his songs and helped him get to where he is today.

After heading back over to the main stage and picking the vibes back up with “Getaway Car” and “You Can’t Stop This,” he led into the second part of the night that brought tears: “Save You a Seat.” He started with another video montage showing him through the years with his father. He stood on stage with tears in his eyes watching alongside the crowd before bringing us to our knees with the raw emotion from the song.

He then rounded out the night by leading us into the last couple more well-known songs, like “Burning Down,” and one of his newer singles, “Fever Dream,” which accidentally led to one of the funniest moments of the night. While his stage presence needs no help, they have a few things to help add to the magic—one of which is the confetti cannon. Warren usually has either his wife or a random person picked from the audience. Well, Philly’s pick was none other than the previously mentioned founding fathers. You would think having four girls on stage in wigs and costumes would be the funniest part, but as a fan of his for a long time, it’s not an Alex Warren show if something doesn't go wrong. After all five of them hit the button, the cannons didn’t launch until about 10 seconds later, causing Warren to not only stop singing, but duck for cover while laughing.

Warren ended the night with the song that we all know—the one that has been spread worldwide and the very one he has attributed its fame to BookTok—“Ordinary.”

Warren and his team created a beautiful and fun-filled night for people of all ages and backgrounds; he has lost a lot before getting to this point. I believe that he accomplished exactly what he named his tour for, between the fans, the songs, and his wife. And even though nothing can bring his parents back, he found family in so many other ways.

Photo Credit: Jesse Faatz