It was a night for the fans, as lullaboy took to the stage for his final stop in 2024 for his hotly-anticipated Coming Home tour. Named after his latest album, the Coming Home tour has already seen sold out shows in Jakarta, Bangkok, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur, before Singapore finally gets to experience it right here at the Esplanade Annexe Studio – and boy, were the fans in for a treat.

Since making his debut in 2016, lullaboy (real name Bernard Dinata) has been hard at work producing a sizeable number of releases, each of which has won him new adoration and audiences for his sincere songwriting and crooning voice, often touching on deeply personal topics that cover the entire spectrum of relationships and emotions, from heartbreak to falling in love. By now, he’s built up an arsenal of two full-length albums and several collaborations, which his diehard fans know by heart and could sing-along to from the moment the first note plays.

With this in mind, the Coming Home Tour wastes no time at all, with lullaboy starting the show on time, coming out in a leather jacket and shades, fully embracing the star power that he’s gained over the years. Warming up the crowd with several chill numbers, such as ‘cool’ against a vast backdrop of an azure sky, before the show really kicked off with ‘Van Gogh’, complete with a visual of Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ ebbing behind him as the crowd sang along to the chorus.

Taking a moment to interact with the audience, lullaboy acknowledged his brother on instrumentals, and expressed joy at coming back to Singapore, where he praised the crowd as one of the warmest ones yet, and how much the tour meant to him – encapsulating how he intended for the setlist to take listeners on a journey through all the aspects of love, bringing us to a highest of highs and lowest of lows, and ultimately, cement what it means to be human.

Much of this comes from his choice of transitions, which often comprise of cinematic interludes, with quotes onscreen and breathy voiceovers brimming with emotion. The energy went up as lullaboy moved on to crowd pleaser ‘Dejavu’, allowing him to show off the quality of his vocals, while maintaining the same degree of intensity and passion in his voice. Taking off his jacket and sunglasses, it felt like lullaboy was finally opening himself up to us, as he shared about the significance of ‘the boy’ and ‘personal’, performing both songs and explaining about the love triangle between his crush and best friend that inspired them, slowing down the pace and dripping with pain.

In line with his tours’ theme of dreams, audiences were asked to submit their biggest dreams and drop them into a physical box – now was the time for lullaboy to bring that to the fore, as he brought out the dream box and validated a select few audience members’ dreams, some of which might even appear in a future music video. This provides the perfect segue to the next song – ‘only in my dreams’, about lullaboy’s relationship with his mother, who was watching the performance via zoom, which he sang alongside a slideshow of photos submitted by fans with their own mothers, before singing ‘pictures from afar’, cementing his status as an Asian pop icon.

Now, singing the only Bahasa Indonesia song from the album, ‘kembali’ brought on the feels, and shows how singing in one’s own mother tongue can feel even more meaningful than English at times, allowing for his voice to reach different inflections, and certainly, makes us feel warm inside. Taking us on a reflective mood about the year, lullaboy then performed ‘r&r’ off his first album, different from his other tracks but certainly bringing the beach vibes to the Annexe Studio. And for one audience member and superfan who’d been following his journey since 2022, lullaboy took the fan experience one step further, as he invited her up onstage and serenaded her live with ‘3 new words’ – literally singing ‘I love you’ to her in front of the crowd, sighing with adoration.

Speaking of collaborations, lullaboy then received a special video message from Korean artist JUNNY raving about what a fantastic experience it was working together, before lullaboy performed their dance-ready song ‘solo’. With the crowd revved up, it was time for the title track of the new album to finally make its appearance, with ‘coming home’ as the next song on the list. This was of course, the cue for lullaboy to bring out his special guest for the tour – collaborator and up and coming Swedish artist yaeow, who joined him for the performance and brought the energy up even more.

Leaving the stage to rest for a while, yaeow then took full control, slightly nervous, but coming into his own the more he performed and the more the crowd encouraged him. Considering it’s his first tour, his first time in Singapore before he’s even released a debut album, yaeow thrived on the crowd’s energy, as he performed ‘not your fault (hey you)’, his voice tired and hurt as he recalled getting taken advantage of and losing faith, yet comforting as it gained strength the more the song went on.

yaeow then brought the energy up with a brand new song from his upcoming debut album, taking us from hurting to healing with ‘let your body heal’, as the crowd bopped along to it and brought us to a higher place once again. Ending his guest appearance with his third song, the hit song ‘favorite lesson’, you could even hear audience members singing along, and screaming when lullaboy returned to join yaeow onstage and performing one last duet together.

The crowd swooned as lullaboy performed ‘life with u’, almost guaranteed to be a wedding staple, before he entered a rapidfire acapella set, taking suggestions from the crowd as they yelled out songs he hadn’t played yet, including ‘she could be’, ‘good in me’, deep cut ‘stay here’, and even a short verse from Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’, only to sing his actual song ‘someone like u’ next, and coming down into the crowd, high fiving and smiling his winsome smile as he weaved through the audience to ecstatic cheers, and supposedly bringing the show to a close.

Of course, with some of his biggest hits yet to be played, the audience demanded an encore, with lullaboy coming back onstage to perform ‘honest’. Dressed in a beanie and his own tour t-shirt, the energy hit a climax, while he began tossing water at the crowd. Ending off with coming home’s opening track ‘shortcut to heaven’, the Coming Home tour ended on a breathtaking high, with confetti and a singalong you can’t help but feel joy at.

This is lullaboy at a higher level than ever before, taking all that he’s learnt over the last two years and elevating it further, knowing how to work a crowd, how to design a set that makes us ache and cheer, to feel love in all its aspects, and remind us of why home is where the heart is – no matter how far you go and what you achieve, you still end up listening to your heart, and finding a way home. And clearly from the incredible reception tonight at the Annexe Studio, coming home is the best decision lullaboy could have made, as he brought the house down before almost definitely moving on to even greater things that lie ahead.

lullaboy played on 21st December 2024 at the Esplanade Annexe Studio. Follow lullaboy on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Spotify