Sometimes you just want a well-paced, hit-packed pop show — it’s really not that deep! At her sold-out Madison Square Garden show in New York City on Friday (April 24), Demi Lovato absolutely understood the assignment.
The Grammy-nominated pop sensation delivered a dance-pop spectacle built around her most recent album, last October’s It’s Not That Deep. A carefree, no-frills dance record — as its title suggests — Demi’s latest LP became her ninth to reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200 (No. 9), spawning the Hot Dance/Pop Songs top 15 hits “Fast” (No. 8) and “Here All Night” (No. 13). Executive produced by Zhone, It’s Not That Deep heralded yet another new chapter in Lovato’s career, yet last night still felt decidedly full-circle.
After breaking through with Disney Channel pop-rock anthems and becoming a top 40 mainstay with hits like “Heart Attack” and “Give Your Heart a Break,” Demi veered into soul-pop (2017’s Tell Me You Love Me) and rock (2022’s Holy Fvck), tying each era together with redemptive ballads and an endlessly resilient voice. Her musical evolution has always reflected the hills and valleys of her personal life, and her fans, particularly the OG early Gen Z Lovatics who grew up with her, have stuck beside her through it all. That context made Lovato’s Madison Square Garden stop a particularly triumphant show, but, perhaps more impressively, she didn’t coast on that nostalgia.
To be clear, this is truly the It’s Not That Deep Tour; the album’s songs make up the bulk of the setlist, with Demi fully committing to the post-Brat aesthetic in her industrial set design, flashy lights and use of behind-the-stage steadicam shots. Between sensual, club-evoking choreographer and rave-leaning mixes of the album cuts (and her previous dance bops), the It’s Not That Deep tour is two hours of standard pop fun. Of course, it’s not a Demi Lovato show without a few jaw-dropping vocal showcases, and she granted New York City just that with particularly impassioned renditions of beloved ballads like “Stone Cold” and “Skyscaper.”
Assisted by Adéla, as well as surprise appearances by husband Jutes and Jojo Levesque, Lovato made her Madison Square Garden headlining debut a night to remember.
Here are the five best moments from Demi Lovato’s It’s Not That Deep Tour stop in New York City.
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Eras Clothes Rack/”Really Don’t Care” Pull
The clothes rack has been a recurring symbol for the It’s Not That Deep era, so it was only right that it made an appearance onstage Friday night. Lovato used the prop as part of a larger banter section in which she walked the crowd through memory lane, with each look on the rack corresponding to a different album era of hers. Though the whole thing turned out to be a gag to introduce Jojo to the stage, it was still a nice tribute to Demi’s winding career.
Right before the encore, however, Demi reached all the way back to her 2013 self-titled era for “Really Don’t Care,” which she correctly introduced as the “OG ‘it’s not that deep’ anthem.” Playing on similar lyrical themes and power pop vibes, “Really” didn’t just trigger long-buried mid-2010s memories; it also brought the show full-circle in a clear, tangible way — a true testament to the sequencing of the night’s setlist.
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Jutes Assists on Sweet “Iris” Duet
Nearly a year ago (May 25, 2025), Lovato married Canadian musician Jordan “Jutes” Lutes, with the adorable couple selecting Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” for their first dance. For her headlining MSG show, Lovato didn’t miss the chance to recreate that moment with her husband by bringing him out for a surprise duet of “Iris” in the back half of the show. “What do you say we sing together for the first time?” she quipped with a toothy smile before launching into a duet that turned the arena into an intimate late-night dive bar set. And, of course, their frequent smooches were the cherry on top.
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Adéla Thrills in Opening Set
Rising pop star and Dream Academy alumna Adéla may only have a handful of singles to her name, but most of them are absolute bangers — and she fully commits to performing each of them as if they were global chart-topping smashes. Donning hot pink heels and a lacy two-piece outfit, Adéla absolutely rocked the stage like a true pop diva, tearing through club-ready cuts like “KGB” and “Sex on the Beat.” In between serving looks and choreography, she also flaunted her vocal chops with “Homewrecked” and delivered a fiery closer with “Superscar,” perfectly setting the stage for the main event.
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The Vocals
With two Grammy nominations to her name, Lovato has long been regarded as one of the strongest vocalists among her pop star contemporaries — and Friday night was yet another reminder of why. Every climax was more thrilling in the last, from her soulful “Tell Me You Love Me” post-chorus ad-libs to the hair-raising belts near the end of the “Confident.” But the real treat was her gametime decision to drop the final, rafters-reaching belt of “Stone Cold” a few steps to ensure an elongated, dramatic finale to one of her most beloved ballads. If anything, Demi’s outstanding vocals — even the lighter moments on standouts like “Low Rise Jeans” — made the absence of Holy Fvck particularly egregious.
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Jojo Pops Out for Surprise “Too Little Too Late” Duet
In June, Jojo will join the Broadway revival of Chess, taking over the role of Florence Vassy from Lea Michele and starring opposite Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher. Naturally, she’s in town rehearsing for the show, and made the time to stop by Lovato’s MSG show for a surprise duet of “Too Little Too Late.” Most artists dream of having a song with even half the lifespan and cultural longevity of “Too Little,” and the way the sold-out arena yelled every lyric was proof of why. Nonetheless, this moment reached its peak when Lovato and Jojo traded ad-libs at the end. In fact, they should have brought out their 2020 “Lonely Hearts” collab for good measure.
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