Tom Grennan, Elli Ingram, Zuzu: O2 Academy, Liverpool

Tom Grennan

Tom Grennan made the O2 Academy his own on Saturday with a stunning set and Getintothis’ Amos Wynn was there to catch the action.

It’s been quite a year for the Bedford born singer, with the release of his debut album, Lighting Matches and some big shows under his belt, the 23 year-old has been loving life.

Grennan’s joy was clear to see from Saturday’s performance, with his set full of enthusiasm and passion, each line clearly filling him with happiness.

He kicked off his set acoustically with Sweet Hallelujah, his vocals sounding stunning. Grennan’s unique rough sounding voice was excellent throughout, accompanied well by his backing singers.

One of the standout songs was the title track of his album, Lighting Matches and with the crowd singing along it was electric inside the O2 Academy. Barbed Wire also had everyone in the room singing back at him, with Grennan‘s confidence sky high as he announced it was one of “the best nights of the tour,” and stating, “I am a very lucky boy.”

That was suitably followed by a great rendition of Lucky Ones.

13 Questions with BC Camplight

Fans throughout the night kept chanting ‘Bedford’ but Grennan was having none of it saying, “I don’t want to know about Bedford, I wanna know about fucking Liverpool.”

A song that blew the roof off the venue was the superb Sober. Grennan’s excitement for the song was reflected by the crowd. To tease crowds for one of his best-known songs, Grennan started chanting the tune down his microphone, with everyone repeating it back to him.

Found What I’ve Been Looking For was full of life and had the room bouncing. Grennan left the stage following this but promised he’d be back soon. After a short break he returned for his encore, ending things calmly with an acoustic rendition of All Goes Wrong, Little By Little Love and Running in the Water.

Grennan declared to the crowd you’re “like family to me now”, with everyone in the room embracing the gig and loving what they had just seen.

Supporting Grennan was Liverpool artist and GIT Award one to watch, Zuzu and Brighton singer Elli Ingram.

Zuzu was certainly impressive with catchy songs and excellent vocals. With lively riffs she helped to get the crowd up for the night, with a Cardi B cover and a birthday shout out for her mum also in the mix.

Meanwhile second act Elli Ingram brought a jazzy feel to the night. With powerful vocals from the singer, she certainly helped to set the stage for Grennan, who made the night his own.

From start to finish his set was on point. He managed to transfer the tracks from a strong debut album and make them sound even better live. His voice was spectacular, and he has already promised his return to Liverpool will be even bigger, and rightfully so.