Hilary Duff Dazzles Madison Square Garden

Duff kicked off the show with 2005’s “Wake Up” — and it was the perfect selection. There was something going on that night in New York, her first of two sold-out shows at the Garden.

“I miss performing, and I desperately miss having that person be in the forefront,” Duff told Rolling Stone earlier this year.

The audience at MSG scream-shouted every word to nearly every song. Duff was beside herself witnessing their passion. “This room is filled with so many versions of love,” she said, “Families, kids, best friends, it’s all pictured here and I feel so damn lucky for that.”

Throughout the night, Duff was overwhelmed with gratitude to be performing at one of New York’s most iconic venues. “There’s very few places in the world that feel bigger than the building, and MSG is one of those places,” she told the audience.

Duff folded in her 2007 Dignity cut “Play With Fire” for a blazing moment.

“New York, I knew you’d be like this,” Duff told the audience in between songs, smiling at their vivacious energy. “This feels like a giant slumber party!” 

A flood of shimmery confetti came down during Duff’s performance of “Future Tripping.” And there was so much more confetti to come after that.

Duff revealed that before the show, she took a trip to the emergency room to get stitches for her five-year-old daughter, and still managed to put on a great show hours later. “It’s very our family-coded that I would be playing my first night at MSG and also be in the emergency room,” she said.

Duff brought out RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Crystal Envy, Luxx Noir London, and Aquaria, pictured here, to perform her viral “With Love” dance. Each queen honored one of Duff’s eras, with Aquaria leaning into 2004’s “Girl Can Rock” chapter. 

“I have a big discography, which is a blessing and a curse,” Duff previously told RS when asked about the tour’s setlist, which incorporates new tracks and old hits. “Some songs are embarrassing, and some are super fucking good.”

Fans were delighted to hear Duff sing Metamorphosis cut “Anywhere But Here,” even if “The Math” didn’t make it in.

The New York skies opened with rain shortly after Duff sang her 2003 hit “Come Clean.”

As Duff performed her rock-inspured track “Fly,” her tour visuals nodded to the song’s music video.

Duff performs ‘We Don’t Talk’ on a couch, just like she did for her Small Rooms, Big Nerves tour. The singer has pushed back that the couch’s color has any significance to the subject of the song, which is about her rift with sister Haylie Duff. “That is absolute bullshit,” Duff told RS. “I don’t have the time to make threads for people to catch on to about that. I have a full life and a busy family, and this was literally just a song about my truth, and that was it.”

Every night on tour, Duff gets to open a mini fridge and reveal a secret cocktail. “A couple of shows back, it was whiskey and it was so hot,” Duff recalls. “Honestly, that shot made me feel like I put a sweater on in 110 degree heat with humidity.”

…. And Duff’s secret cocktail was an Aperol spritz. She was hoping for wine, but she happily took the drink. “Who doesn’t love a spritz?” she asked.

“This next song is all about taking chances, and I think usually when you take the chance it’s really really worth it in all areas of your life,” Duff said to introduce her Disney-era classic “Why Not?”

The audience chanted “Hilary” just before Duff dove into Luck … or Something centerpiece “Adult Size Medium.” Of course, the star captured the moment with a selfie

Millennials were transported back to the early Aughts when Duff brought out Good Charlotte to sing emo staple “The Anthem.”

Joel Madden and Duff crushed their duet of “The Anthem.” The pair famously dated from 2004 to 2006, and both Joel and Benji Madden worked on “Wake Up,” “Break My Heart,” and “Beat of My Heart” for the singer’s compilation album Most Wanted.

Duff delivers her comeback single ‘Mature’ at the Garden. Released last fall, the track marked her official return to music after a decade.

The pinnacle moment of the whole night was blowout number “What Dreams Are Made Of.” Orange and white balloons came down on the pit as the audience lost their minds to the Lizzie McGuire song.

Duff made the most of her MSG moment, reveling in all of the dreams she made come true, both for her audience and herself.

“I do feel like one of my magic tricks is being able to connect with people,” Duff told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “To be able to reach them and relate to them, and them feel close to me.”