Passionate Fandom at Debbie Gibson Anniversary Concert

I was born in 2003, and therefore was likely one of the youngest people at the Town Hall on July 26 for Debbie Gibson’s “Electric Youth” 35th anniversary concert.

The one-night only event was packed full with a crowd of avid, often decades-long fans of the ’80s-’90s singer, excited to see this special two-hour show. Throughout the performance, Gibson often onstage in an ’80s-style costume in front of a screen showing decades-old footage of her dancing the same steps in the same costume.

While the performance was onstage, the concert experience engulfed the entire auditorium. I felt like I had been invited to glimpse at a whole world I never knew existed, and I soaked in every second of it. People around me, likely more than double my age, were smiling, wide-eyed, as their idol performed as though it had not been more than three decades since she first performed this.

Throughout the show, Gibson sometimes referred to what she called the “Diamond Debheads.” This, it turns out, is a club for her most avid fans. She talked about how honored she feels knowing that her music connected so many people to one another.

Rather than just a fanbase run through social media and in-person meetups, like today’s Swifties, there are actual levels of membership for Diamond Debheads. As would be expected of a pay-to-join fan club (membership costs either $20 a month or $200 a year), members get access to various perks like Zoom parties, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive merch. Beyond that, though, members get first access to tickets, VIP experiences, and the chance to be in the audience for TV appearances.

This is clearly an intricately run organization—one that requires deep and genuine passion to maintain. If what I saw at the Town Hall was anything to go by, that is certainly the case here.

There were so many moments that I knew were clearly references or in-jokes within the fan community, and even though I did not get the jokes themselves, I understood what they represent. They represent years of devoted, passionate fans of an artist who loves what she does.

The pinnacle of this was when she finished singing “Lost in Your Eyes.” She kneeled on the piano as she sang her heart out, and as the song came to a close, she broke down, so full of emotions. An entire room was singing along to a song she released 35 years ago, and she felt the love so powerfully in that room.

She shared this passion and emotion with everyone else who took the stage, including longtime friends and colleagues like Orfeh and John Lloyd Young. She introduced everyone with a personal story and a heartfelt compliment, and the love she had for each person was palpable. This was most evident when she brought out a group of students from Broadway Bound Kids. She had run a workshop with these young stars-to-be, and they sang along with her for one of the final performances of the night—the album and concert’s title song, “Electric Youth.”

Gibson sang of being young 35 years after first singing this track, on a stage of children hoping to follow in her footsteps, and the concert ended on a perfectly fitting note.