Over the years, George Ezra has become one of my favourite music artists. He’s best known for his singles Budapest, Shotgun and Green Green Grass which have all gone on to become radio staples, as well as performing huge gigs such as the Platinum Jubilee concert earlier this year. But beyond the top hits, he has three amazingly constructed albums, the latest Gold Rush Kid being no exception. Touring arenas to promote this album, I couldn’t wait to see him live in Manchester (especially as he said in his End To End documentary that Manchester was always one of the best gigs on the tour!)
I had seen George Ezra live once before: four years ago, front row at Lytham Festival in my hometown. My view was going to be a bit further away this time, in Manchester Arena’s block 109, Row A, but I knew he was going to put on a brilliant show for everyone in that arena, no matter where they were sat!
Before taking our seats, my friend and I took a quick trip to the merch stand, where we were spoilt for choice by his T-Shirt selection! We got ones with the Gold Rush Kid logo on (£30 each) which felt like a lovely souvenir from the concert.
Support act band Beatenberg were one of the better support acts I’ve seen in the arena, as unlike most, their bass sounds were not too obtrusive and overwhelming. Instead, they were the perfect relaxed background to accompany the queue of people making their way to the standing section. Although they perhaps didn’t have the most memorable set, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as my friend and I both agreed they’d make for great chilled-out Sunday afternoon listening – if you would like to do the same, head over to their Spotify!
Kicking off with Anyone For You, George Ezra and his band took to the stage at 9pm on the dot, performing a 1h 30min set, finishing at 10.30pm. The setlist followed a similar journey to that of the last tour, taking out a couple of older tracks and adding some new ones from Gold Rush Kid. I’m very glad he kept Cassy O’ at the start of the set, such an energetic moment that I love dancing to live! Pretty Shining People, the first track of his second album Staying At Tamara’s and one of my favourite songs ever, was also kept in this time round – the whole crowd singing along to its bridge ‘don’t we all need love, the answer is easy’ is a very special point in the show.
While he’s known for the pop chart-toppers, evident by the crowd’s more excitable response to Green Green Grass and Paradise, his albums balance these with softer and more thoughtful ballads. The section of slower songs from the new album: Sweetest Human Being Alive, In The Morning and Manilla was a highlight for me, as they are so well-written and moving live.
The production of the concert was also very impressive – some of the backgrounds were very pretty and obvious photo opportunities! Although at times an arena can feel very big, especially when you’re sat at the back of it, the production makes up for it as we could really take it in being sat that far back.
Not only does George Ezra have a sensational musical back-catalogue, he is also incredibly likeable, as his film End To End, documenting the journey he and his two closest friends took on foot from Land’s End to John O’Groats showed when I recently went to watch it in anticipation of this concert. In the documentary he discussed reservations about going out and touring again, but he had clearly had plenty of time to recharge and prepare as the concert was very lively, his stage presence even more a force to be reckoned with than at his last tour.
Setlist:
Anyone for You (Tiger Lily)
Cassy O’
Get Away
Gold Rush Kid
Pretty Shining People
Barcelona
Saviour
Did You Hear the Rain?
Hold My Girl
Sweetest Human Being Alive
In the Morning
Manila
All My Love
Green Green Grass
Paradise
Blame It on Me
Budapest
Dance All Over Me
Shotgun
I’ve been to some great concerts this year, including Sam Fender and Coldplay, and now George Ezra’s tour is another highlight of my year! He’s absolutely brilliant live, and I can’t wait to see him on tours to come. Have you been to any concerts lately?
