Disney kid-turned pop superstar Hilary Duff brought Y2K back to Madison Square Garden last week for two sold-out stops on her “lucky me tour.”
After a 10-year music hiatus and even longer from a global headline tour, the “Come Clean” singer is drawing crowds of thousands to scream along to old hits and new favorites in butterfly clips and flare pants.
Support acts Jade LeMac and La Roux brought exciting indie and synth pop tracks to the crowd. 22-year-old LeMac, whose song “Constellations” was featured on hit Netflix series “My Life With The Walter Boys,” made her festival debut earlier this year at NYC’s Governors Ball in June. GRAMMY Award winner La Roux teased her upcoming album Old Flames — her first since 2020 — by performing singles “Cabin Fever” and “Babyline.” Of course, the set ended with her hit song “Bulletproof.”
Duff took the stage in a pair of Millenial-approved jeans and a shaggy pink top for “Wake Up” before transitioning into old favorite “So Yesterday” off of her 2003 album Metamorphosis. With a 22-song setlist spanning her storied music career, there were plenty of tracks for longtime stans, Disney adults and casual listeners in the crowd to jump and sing along to. During songs like “Play With Fire,” Duff literally plays with fire as huge pyrotechnics and fireworks blaze behind her band, matching the crowd’s excitement.
In between costume changes, the show’s visuals gave the crowd a glimpse into Duff’s coming-of-age in the public eye from her time on Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire and the process of returning to music and touring, including the making of her 2026 album Luck… or Something. Her family, who she said was present at her Aug. 5 show, made cameos as she brought viewers into her recording booths and California home.
Before singing “Why Not,” Duff tosses on a cozy t-shirt and jeans and takes you into her living room for “wine o’clock,” unveiling a note taped onto her mini-fridge with an accompanying snack or drink. For night one in NYC, it was only fitting that the drink was titled “The Big Aperol,” an Aperol spritz.
Concertgoers got a pleasant surprise when Duff invited RuPaul’s Drag Race Aquaria, Luxx Noir London and Crystal Envy to do her “With Love” dance, with each drag queen dressing to pay homage to one of Duff’s previous eras, including the iconic Lizzie McGuire cartoon outfit. After wearing a t-shirt of the band Good Charlotte, Duff shocked the crowd as they joined her to sing “The Anthem,” including her ex-boyfriend Joel Madden.
Before leaving the stage, Duff told the crowd that her five-year-old daughter Mae had to get stitches in the emergency room the same morning as the show.
“It’s very ‘our family-coded’ that I would be playing my first show at MSG and also be in the emergency room getting my kid stitched up,” she joked.
For a few hours, the nearly 20,000-cap venue was a part of Duff’s family, singing along while she reminisced through her nearly 30-year career. As she ended the show with fan favorites “Come Clean” and “What Dreams Are Made Of,” butterfly-printed balloons descended from the ceiling and a curtain of sparkles showered behind Duff. Practically everyone in the room was smiling and screaming “Hey now (hey now) / This is what dreams are made of.”
The “lucky me tour” plays through Feb. 2027, with the United States leg ending on Aug. 16. Remaining tickets are available through Duff’s site.
