Hilary Duff’s Nostalgic Brooklyn Concert: 10 Iconic Songs Ranked

After announcing her highly anticipated comeback amidst pop culture’s nostalgia fest, Hilary Duff embarked on a mini tour, with a prominent stop in Brooklyn, New York. When Duff took the stage, in a shimmery silver top and fur coat, it felt like the 2000s again. The tour is her first since 2008, but she slipped back under the stage lights effortlessly.

As she told the audience, the show felt healing, and from the cheers coming from the sold-out crowd, it seemed everyone agreed. Duff was enthusiastic as she debuted brand-new songs from her upcoming album, Luck…or Something, but nothing got the crowds going like her older hits. Here are all ten from the setlist ranked.

10

Beat Of My Heart

“Beat of My Heart” is not as popular as some of her other 2000s hits, but the crowd still knew every lyric. The song was a new track on her 2005 compilation album Most Wanted, a time when Duff seemed eager to reinvent herself as she officially left her Disney days behind.

The song had an accompanying music video that painted Duff as a 1960s, Pattie Boyd-esque icon. The song is a true earworm, and its addictive beat makes up for the simple and repetitive lyrics. Needless to say, it had the whole room dancing.

9

Fly

Before revealing she’d be performing “Fly,” off her 2004 self-titled album, Duff gave an empowering speech about how much it meant to her to sing this one back in the day. With lyrics like “open up the part of you that wants to hide away,” and “you know you better than anyone else,” the single is the ultimate empowerment anthem from the former Lizzie McGuire star.

As she embarks on a music comeback, for the first time in over a decade, this one seems most relevant to her life today. Still, it was hard not to reminisce about her singing the song as a 17-year-old.

8

With Love

What Hilary Duff fans remember most about “With Love,” more than the black bob wig she wore in the music video or the perfume she released of the same name, is the hilarious choreography she did during live performances back in the day. In recent years, that choreography has gone viral all over social media, with users recreating it and Duff herself joining in.

If there’s one thing about the actress turned singer, it’s that she knows how to laugh at herself. Duff brought the nostalgia back in full force by not only performing the dance routine during the song, but also bringing three fans on stage to do it with her. It was definitely one of the highlights of the show.

7

Someone’s Watching Over Me

Hilary Duff’s 2004 film Raise Your Voice was not the lighthearted work she’d done previously. Following a story of grief, after the death of a family member, it was quite substantial for her young audience. It also included her most powerful ballad. “Someone’s Watching Over Me” made it onto Duff’s setlist.

It was the slowest song of the night, but it certainly didn’t bore the crowd. The lyrics, about making it through the harder times in life by believing there’s something bigger than us leading the way, felt quite profound in today’s world. It was one of the most uniting moments of the concert and took everyone right back to 2004.

6

Wake Up

The How I Met Your Father actress surely knows how to open a show. After the lights dimmed, the opening chords of her 2005 hit “Wake Up” kicked in as she made her way onstage. Like “With Love,” the song has also been pretty trendy on social media in recent years.

The highlight was certainly the chorus “wake up, wake up on a Saturday night, could be New York….” The song was probably just as exciting at her London show when she shouts out the city later in the chorus. It’s one of Duff’s songs that feels most fun to hear live, since it’s really just about escaping the chaos of life for a fun night out.

5

Come Clean

Hilary Duff’s recent music video for “Roommates” had everyone comparing it to the 2003 “Come Clean” music video. Whether you remember seeing Duff in the song’s music video with her platinum blonde hair and white sweater, literally watching the rain fall down, or you remember the song as the theme for MTV’s Laguna Beach, this one really brought the nostalgia.

The song has had a true legacy for those who grew up with Hilary Duff’s music, as it’s hard not to burst into the chorus every time it’s raining outside. While it was thankfully warm and dry inside the theater, Duff made the rain fall down, even if only in our minds.

One unexpected song that made the set list was Duff’s Metamorphosis title track. To fans’ dismay, she didn’t sing the final chorus, explaining that saying “metamorphosis” that many times is truly exhausting.

However, Duff made it extra fun during the track’s fast-paced bridge, having someone on stage hold up cue cards to help her and the audience get the words right. Of course, despite being over 20 years since the song was released, fans needed no help singing along.

3

Why Not

“Why Not” made it onto Duff’s Metamorphosis album with some new lyrics that weren’t in the original version of the song recorded for The Lizzie McGuire Movie. The hit might not be the most popular song from the Disney movie, but it’s certainly an uplifting one.

It’s all about taking crazy chances, doing crazy dances, and believing in your dreams. As she sings, “you’ll never get to heaven or even to LA if you don’t believe there’s a way.“

While this may have been especially relatable when she was first building her career as a teen, it seems just as true to her now as she makes her big comeback in her late 30s. If there’s one thing to take away from the performance, it’s that you can always chase new dreams at any point in your life.

2

So Yesterday

Every Hilary Duff fan remembers the “Everything Is Bigger In Texas” t-shirt from the “So Yesterday” music video. The song was one of her earliest singles and, to this day, is one of her most beloved.

The song made Duff a true role model, teaching her audience of young girls to take their power back. The breakup anthem is all about moving on after someone does you wrong instead of allowing it to crush you.

“Do you see a single tear? It isn’t gonna happen here,” Duff sings in the second verse, and then ends the chorus with “haven’t you heard that I’m gonna be okay?” It was definitely one of the best songs she sang all night and truly took audiences back to her early career.

1

What Dreams Are Made Of

By the look of the audience, many of whom channeled iconic looks from The Lizzie McGuire Movie, the song fans were most anticipating was “What Dreams Are Made Of.” In November, Duff was a guest on Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast, where she teased she’d be singing the Lizzie McGuire anthem live soon.

According to the Younger star, she wasn’t legally allowed to perform it as herself at her early career concerts. It was no surprise that Duff finally debuted the song as herself at her Small Rooms, Big Nerves tour.

Duff closed out the show with the iconic song, complete with butterfly confetti and true excitement in her voice that felt like we were all standing in the audience of the Colosseum in Rome, watching her defeat Paulo. If nostalgia were a song, it would be “What Dreams Are Made Of.”