Aimee Goldblum
Recently announced as an official musical act playing at Reading and Leeds Festival 2026, 20-year-old Best New Artist nominee Sombr (Shane Boose) is living every musician’s dream. However, despite taking the world by storm with hits such as ‘Back to Friends’ and ‘Undressed’, Sombr has gotten himself into hot water. After creator @meganator attended one of Sombr’s shows a few weeks ago, she took to TikTok to share her experience – and in her wake launched a spiralling discourse that had everyone and their mother offering their two cents. “Genuinely the worst concert I’ve been to in my life,” Meg says in her original video, which has since racked up over 6.5 million views. Her follow-up videos on the topic have hit between 2 and 5 million views each.
Meg’s first video focused on Sombr’s immaturity – making 6-7 jokes and other ‘Gen Alpha’ references throughout the gig – and his focus on crowd work over the quality of performance. (Boose has come out and said that he was suffering from illness at the show she attended, hence his shaky vocals.) She alleged that she was not aware of Boose’s internet presence before the gig, which seems unlikely considering the inextricable nature of his music career and TikTok virality. In her follow-up videos, and videos from others responding to the situation, there was much more concern over the sexual content of Boose’s show, the singer asking his young fans to bark for him, and mimicking sexual acts on stage. Given the young fan base Sombr has – which he is clearly aware of, with his immature jokes – is this incorporation of adult content predatory? Meg thinks so, as do hundreds of thousands of people who have liked and commented on various videos in support of her.
This critique of Sombr is arguably similar to the backlash aimed at Sabrina Carpenter
Meg’s video isn’t without its detractors, though. One response criticised her for her attitude towards Boose’s opener, Devon Gabriella, whom Meg berated for her ‘lack of talent’ and apparent awkward stage presence. Others alleged that Meg was simply ‘too old’ for a Sombr show. She is 25, to Sombr’s 20. Of course, when going to a show where you are older than the artist you’re seeing, you can probably expect a younger crowd, something which Meg seemed baffled by in her critique. She acknowledges that Sombr is an artist who owes his success to TikTok, an app primarily used by tweens and teens, yet is surprised when his fan base fits this demographic.
This critique of Sombr is arguably similar to the backlash aimed at Sabrina Carpenter, who had parents furious after they took their tween daughters to her show and were faced with talk of sex positions and intimacy. However, this is unsurprising when you look at Carpenter’s lyrics. “Have you ever tried this one?” or “I just want you to come inside” aren’t exactly subtle. Parents have a responsibility, the internet decided, to research what their children are engaging with, to avoid incidents like these. Sombr’s music, in comparison, while not exactly Kidz Bop, still doesn’t toy with adult themes in the same way as Carpenter’s overt sexuality. (Although, “I don’t wanna get undressed for a new person all over again” isn’t exactly PG.) Perhaps, in the same way, Sombr’s shows just aren’t the place for young teenagers.
In a move deemed wise or unwise, depending on how you look at it, Sombr released a TikTok responding to the backlash. “I am freshly 20,” he implores. Meg is too old for his shows, maybe – or at least shouldn’t expect contemplative maturity from a man who would have, in another life, been misbehaving in a college frat, still years out from graduating. He says that she is exaggerating the content of his shows, and that the jokey sections do not detract from the music.
I saw Sombr live in June 2025, and have tickets to see him again next March, so I am in a unique position to comment on my experiences. Personally, I enjoyed the concert. Sure, the audience was a little juvenile, with people chanting and screaming at Boose. It was clear that, for a lot of them, it was their first gig ever. His jokes were a little silly, too, but not anything egregious, and I personally didn’t find there to be that much sexual content at all, aside from Boose asking the crowd to bark. I think there’s a disconnect with Sombr between the content and the context.
It’s a little disheartening that our emerging stars have to embarrass themselves on stage for a viral moment
For anyone else, asking a young crowd to bark at him would be a bit uncomfortable. But for those who are aware of his internet presence (kind of unavoidable for all fans, as this is where he got his start), it’s clear that these comments are a ‘bit’, a persona forged for content creation. It’s a little disheartening that our emerging stars have to embarrass themselves on stage for a viral moment, but this is a symptom of the wider music industry, where an artist’s value is their hit rate and clicks rather than artistic merit. I had fun at the gig. The music was fun, and Boose is a charismatic performer. I look forward to seeing him again in March next year.
The truth is, young male performers have been acting this way for decades. One Direction’s entire financial empire was built on the band existing as a way for tweens to explore their sexuality, the band was entirely marketed as boyfriend types for fans to latch on to. They were never PG, because they weren’t required to be. Sombr exists in this same space, in the era of the decline of boy bands and the rise of the Timothée Chalamet-esque, heroin-chic heartthrob. While I understand Meg and others’ reservations, if a 20-year-old man wants to make a few 6-7 jokes here and there, I’d be a hypocrite to stop him.
Aimee Goldblum
Featured image courtesy of Hanny Naibaho via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In-article photos courtesy of @sofficialrandl and @sombr via Instagram. No changes were made to these photos.
For more content including news, reviews, entertainment, lifestyle, features, sport and so much more, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like our Facebook page for more articles and information on how to get involved.
