Big Time Rush lit up Austin’s Moody Center with nostalgic pop energy, joined by old friends from their hit TV show.
Big Time Rush is an American pop boy band created in 2009. The band consists of four members: Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Logan Henderson, and Carlos PenaVega. Their career began with their roles in the Nickelodeon Television show, Big Time Rush. The show ran for four seasons and ended in 2013. In 2010, their debut album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 Charts. The band took a hiatus in 2014, but returned in 2020, virtually during the COVID-19 quarantine. In February this year, the group announced their latest tour titled In Real Life Worldwide Tour.
The first opener of the night was singer and former Broadway star Stephen Kramer Glickman. Glickman played a character called Gustavo in the Nickelodeon show. In the show, he was the band’s sassy manager and producer. During his quick set, he performed covers of songs such as Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” and Phil Collins’s “In The Air Tonight.” At each show, Glickman and his band have been live recording one song of their set and releasing it. Austin’s live recording was a cover of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.”
The next opener of the night was singer-songwriter Katelyn Tarver. Tarver also acted in the TV show Big Time Rush as Kendall’s girlfriend, Jo. She has continued to make music well after the show ended in 2013. She opened her set with her original song “Hurt Like That” from her 2021 album release Subject to Change. Then also performed newer songs, such as “Don’t Eat Pray Love” (2025) and “#1” (2025). At about 8:30 PM, Big Time Rush started their long-awaited set. They opened the show with the iconic theme song, “Big Time Rush.” The guys stormed the stage with a contagious energy. The next song they performed was “Windows Down” from their 2012 album Elevate. The song famously samples from Blur’s “Song 2.” After a few more songs of the band doing choreography and running around, Stephen Kramer Glickman was welcomed back to the stage. Glickman performs a piano solo of the song “Like Nobody’s Around.”Afterwards, each member took turns performing a solo with Glickman on keys. During Maslow’s turn, he took a moment to explain to the crowd that Glickman isn’t only an old coworker but also an old family friend. He then thanked him for being such an inspiration to him growing up and dedicated the next song to him. With Maslow on keys and the other guys crowded around, they began to play the infamous “Giant Turd” song that fans would recognize from the television show.
They performed a few more fan favorites, such as “Any Kind of Guy” and “Halfway There,” before switching to a second stage in the back of the pit. During this time, they invited Katelyn Tarver onto B-Stage to sing “Count on You,” originally featuring American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. Before singing “Worldwide,” each of the guys grabbed a fan from the crowd, ushered them onto the stage, and sang the ballad to each. As the night came to an end, “Confetti Falling” from their third studio album 24/seven was performed while an abundance of confetti was shot in cannons along the front of the barricade. Moody Center went dark for about three minutes before the band returned for an encore. They closed their set with “Til I Forget About You” and “Boyfriend” from their 2010 debut album BTR.
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KATELYN TARVER
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