After a break of almost three years, Justin Bieber made a return to Philadelphia on Saturday, May 7, and Sunday, May 8. Following the release of his comeback album Purpose, Bieber set out on his third world tour starting just a few months ago on March 9 in Seattle, WA and has dates that extend through this fall in Europe.

The first opening act for the night was singer-songwriter Moxie Raia. Most people did not know of her prior to the concert, so the crowd was not as excited when she came on as they were when the next opener, rapper Post Malone, came onstage. His set began with a DJ playing some songs to get the crowd pumped, and when he came out, the audience went insane. He sang a compilation of his newer songs, most of which only a few voices in the crowd sang along to. The crowd really started to sing along when his hit song “White Iverson” came on. There were about 15-20 minutes between the opening acts, and about the same amount of time before Bieber made his comeback to the Wells Fargo stage.

From the moment that the lights went out for Justin’s intro video to when the lights came back on after the encore, the arena was filled with an unsurmountable amount of energy. Bieber came into the arena in a transparent box while singing the first song from his album, “Mark My Words”. He then proceeded to lead a few high energy dance numbers, such as his radio smash “Where Are U Now” before slowing the crowd down for a few songs. He sang three songs acoustically, including “Love Yourself” which is still making radio chart history.

The rest of the show was dominantly fast-paced, electronic music from his new album, with a few songs from his past sprinkled in there. However, he did have two intimate songs with the crowd that became emotional for Bieber. His song “Life is Worth Living” made almost the entire audience emotional, because of the strong meaning behind the words that he sang. He started to tear up during “Purpose,” the second to last song of the night, which he has done at a few of the other shows on the tour. Justin ended the night singing his most popular hit off of Purpose, “Sorry,” where water came falling down like rain onto the stage and got both Bieber and the dancers soaking wet.

The audience at this concert displayed a vastly more diverse age range, where an 8 year old boy could be sitting next to a 25 year old girl. I personally have been to three of Justin’s other shows in Philadelphia, and this show broke the whole “only 12 year old girls see Justin Bieber in concert” stigma. I think I can say for everyone in the crowd that the “Purpose” Tour will be one that I will remember for a long time to come, and I am excited to see what this tour will do for Justin’s career in the future.