All Lewis Capaldi wanted to do was have a little, intimate hang with some of his fans in New York’s Penn Station on Thursday afternoon (April 16) before he headlined at Madison Square Garden last night. But, apparently, the NYPD had different ideas.
The singer posted about the incident on X afterward, writing, “NYPD TRULY MET THEIR MATCH IN THE FORM OF A CROWD OF MILD MANNERED ‘MIDDLE OF THE ROAD’ POP MUSIC FANS #WeRunNY,” alongside a video of his fans packing Penn Station and singing his 2020 hit “Before You Go,” to piano accompaniment before police begin walking through the scrum to break it up.
In another video from the surprise gig in front of a flower shop, Capaldi performs a moving rendition of his 2023 hit “How I’m Feeling Now.” During the event, a member of Capaldi’s team handed flowers out to the gathered fans with notes attached, which it appeared a number took with them when they walked upstairs to attend the MSG show.
Capaldi — who posted his own footage of the mildly chaotic subterranean show on TikTok — also performed his yearning new single, “Stay Love,” his first release since his 2025 EP Survive. The song’s release comes after Capaldi confirmed earlier this week that the “mystery” free vinyl in a plain white sleeve with pitched-down vocals and no identifying artist information that showed up in U.K. and U.S. stores ahead of this weekend’s Record Store Day was indeed his new single.
Many fans had guessed that it might be Capaldi based on the vocal inflection and romantic lyrics, according to NME. The emotional track includes the swoony lines: “So when the rights are going wrong/ And I’m barely holding on/ Baby hear me when I say/ Oh won’t you stay love/ When everybody’s leaving/ Come on, stay love/ To get me through the evening.“
According to a release from Capaldi’s label, the three-song pop-up in front of Damselfly Flowers for “unwitting commuters” included the handing out of single-stem blooms with notes reading “‘Stay Love’” Lewis Capaldi” on them to those gathered around, with the crowd swelling to over 5,000 people, “turning the New York City landmark into a cavernous music hall.”
Produced by The Monsters & Strangerz and Michael Pollack, “Stay Love” appears on the deluxe edition of the Survive EP.
Capaldi will headline MGM Music Hall in Boston on Saturday night (April 18).
Watch the “Stay Love” visualizer below.
