At the pop-up hosted in Liberty Village at the Universal Music HQ, black eyeliner runs down fans’ faces as they clutch freshly printed merch and take part in the activations. 

In true rockstar fashion, fans write dive bar bathroom stall adjacent messages on Yungblud posters like “With love from Nova Scotia” or “Saskatchewan girls do it best.” People compare tattoos like old friends while Yungblud songs shake the walls overhead.

Towards the back of the room, fans crowd around a vintage-style phone booth where Yungblud — born Dominic Harrison — has left personalized recorded messages waiting on the other end of the line. 

This is what Yungblud does best, he makes people feel special and nurture community. For the fanbase who calls themselves “family,” this is more of a reunion than a first meet. 

RANGE took some time on the ground to cut through the chaos and connect with Yungblud fans before the modern day rockstar took the stage later that night.

Allie, @ura_your_raka

Do you have a Supermoon superhero? Is there someone that’s been your champion? 

It’s [Yungblud]…. He’s been there since the beginning of 10th grade for me. I like to say that I found him at the exact same time I needed him because if it wasn’t for this man, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.

If you got to say one sentence to Yungblud, what would it be?

Thank you for being the track for my survival.

What does it mean to you just to be able to come here and like get 1st dibs on merch and be around this community?

It means a lot…I met a couple people in line and we exchanged contacts and I’ve been chatting with one of them for the past 4 hours. I really think this is a cool idea because it also just allows other people in the BHC to meet each other… Yungblud himself calls us his family, so why shouldn’t his family meet each other?

You’re going to the show tonight?

Oh, absolutely. I’ll be in the pit.

Rez Leone, @rezleone 

What makes Yungblud idol worthy? 

I listen to more post punk, pop punk type music. It’s the type of music that I personally am looking to make. I was inspired by the way his flows are, and vocally too, even the instrumentation. I love my generation making that comeback in terms of punk music. It was kind of amazing to see him break through. 

In his song, “Supermoon,” he sings “Tell me what inspires you lately.” As a fellow musician, what’s been inspiring you lately?

Hearing stuff like [his music] makes me want to push more to create and to inspire other people the same way Yungblud inspires me. I want to be able to inspire other people to be themselves and just do what they want to do.

If Yungblud was walking by you, and you had time for one sentence, what would you say? 

Sometimes you don’t get the chance to tell an artist how much they actually mean [to you]  because there’s artists that I love [who] ended up passing… I wish I was able to say [how much they mean to me], if I could do that, that would be enough for me.

Daniel, @dortasphotography, Charlie, @charliehunch0 

What makes Yungblud idol worthy?

D: It’s his growth. I feel like every time he does something, it’s something new and he just gets better and better… You never know what to expect, but I think that’s why you never get bored, right?

C: He’s not just a musician. He’s also an amazing human in general. 

Is there a lyric of his you find yourself repeating in your head?

C: “Is there any life on Mars?” There’s something about that, that connects. I think, obviously, we all belong here, but maybe there’s also somewhere else that we’re going to belong. If we could go tomorrow, I would go to Mars. I would start over. I want to be The first Billboard #1 artist on Mars.

D: I actually got “weird” tattooed on my leg – and it got infected. Which made the tattoo even weirder. Very weird.

Avery, @averyelizabethknoll , Victoria, @victoria_lacasse

If you got a song lyric tattooed, what lyric would it be?

V: I have a tattoo that he [hand] wrote for me. It’s lyrics from one of his songs saying “It’ll be all right.”

A: My mom and I, our favourite song to sing in the car is “Medication.” We love to shout “that’s not how it works.” I actually got Yungblud in September to also write me a little thing that says “that’s not how it works.”

Are you gonna get a tattoo someday?

A: My mom and I are gonna get matching ones.

How long have you guys been Yungblud fans?

A: Since I was 13, so about six years?

V: Yeah, it’s been a while. [Since] 2020.

What makes Yungblud idol worthy?

V: What he stands for. The idea of being yourself, I really love that about him.

A: [He is] very different. Preaching on individuality and staying true to yourself. Loving each other and respecting each other.

Later in the evening, walking toward the Coliseum from Exhibition GO, the line to get inside stretches with teenagers in fishnets beside couples in their 60s and parents accompanying young kids to their first arena show. The crowd feels chaotic but unusually welcoming, united less by aesthetics than their love for Yungblud and his unique brand of rock and roll.

By the time Yungblud finally takes the stage, kicking things off with “Hello Heaven, Hello”, the room already feels fully charged.

White confetti bursts across the arena while fog swallows the stage whole. Yungblud storms back and forth across the platform in leather pants and a black vest that barely survives the first song before getting tossed aside. For more than two hours, he performs at a pace that feels borderline inhuman, whipping the crowd into screaming singalongs before suddenly slowing things down long enough to make the entire room feel impossibly intimate.

“It’s like being back in the ’70s and ’80s watching Ozzy Osbourne perform again,” remarks a couple well into their retirement, after the show. They add they have plans to see him again in Las Vegas during the later part of the IDOLS World Tour. 

Every movement feels hypnotic. Every word sounds magnetic. He doesn’t perform with the polished composure and poise of a traditional arena act — he performs like someone dead set on reaching every single person in the building individually. 

At one point, he brings a fan named Jack Blain onstage to play “fleabag.” The moment is authentic and electric, becoming the emotional centre of the night. Thousands of people scream along while adrenaline kicks in for Jack as he sprints to play beside his idol.

For the duration of “fleabag,” as Jack and Yungblud perform, jump around, and smoke on stage together, the line between performer and audience completely disappears. 

Moments like this are ultimately exactly why the Yungblud fandom feels so uniquely intense. In the current celebrity landscape dominated by being nonchalant and mysterious, he doesn’t move with detachment or coolness. In fact, he demands authentic communal participation.

The fans at the pop-up earlier that day weren’t there just to buy merch or take photos, they were there to find each other.

After the concert, RANGE bumps into Jack Blain, still holding the single rose gifted to him by Yungblud, and visibly beaming from his onstage experience.

“Being up on stage was crazy. He is everything you absolutely think in your head. I feel like I’m on a drug right now, just floating. When you’re up on the stage looking at the stadium from the other perspective there’s nothing you could say to capture it.”