Louis Tomlinson took to the stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live last night, Europe’s biggest indoor arena and I’ve never seen a musician more grateful, says Daniel Bird
Louis Tomlinson may have performed at the biggest stadiums in the past, but on his own, he’s proven he’s a star. The Doncaster lad last night headlined Manchester’s Co-op Live, the biggest indoor arena in Europe and while some may say, “Well, he’s performed at Wembley,” yes, he has – but this time it was his solo name on the headline slot.
I’ve followed Louis since his One Direction days, across the country, and often going to the same tour several times… But seeing Louis on his own is beyond special. I’ve met him a few times over the years, and despite his fame, success and bank balance, he’s not changed since that first audition.
Now, I can’t imagine what it’s like walking out onto a stage and seeing 23,500 screaming fans – the closest I’ve gotten is standing on a stage in front of a couple of thousand, but Louis handled it with such ease.
Walking into the Co-op last night for Louis’ How Did We Get Here? World Tour, I felt proud of South Yorkshire’s finest expert (in my opinion); he handled it with such grace and at times looked as though he couldn’t believe it himself. “Look at this f**king room,” Tomlinson told the sold-out crowd. He added: “Rooms like this just blow my mind, every single time – look at what we’ve created.”
And I can’t lie, I was standing in the middle of the standing floor, and even I was blown away when I turned around to see the whole audience. Also, we need to talk about the setlist. Tomlinson really came through with that.
Opening up with Lemonade, the lead single from his latest album, How Did I Get Here?, it was essentially just banger after banger, which worked for me; the entire setlist had something for everybody.
A sold-out crowd is no easy feat, especially in such a huge arena, but standing there on stage, with his backing vocalist, Isaac Anderson, and acoustic guitar, Louis took control of the whole audience with his acoustic rendition of Defenceless, one of my favourite songs from his solo discography and my word, that man can sing.
I’ve seen some huge musicians in my time, all with huge stage productions, but seeing Louis up there, just his voice, no playback and an acoustic guitar, really proves that Nicole Scherzinger was right to create One Direction and put Louis in the band.
Every single person in the arena was silent to the point you could have heard a pin drop, which is extremely rare, especially given Louis’ high-energy performances throughout the rest of the evening. It was the same for Just Hold On, his debut single, an EDM track with Steve Aoki, but Louis performed the acoustic version – and everybody around me had tears in their eyes, especially during Dark To Light, what a performance.
For Louis himself, he admitted it was a “f**king special show” in the city where he first auditioned for The X Factor over a decade ago. “I’ve got a lot to thank this city for,” he said, adding: “It was a special show tonight, but I always knew it was going to be, thank you for bringing the f**ing vibes,” he told the crowd before performing Miss You – one of my top five Louis tracks.
To this day, it baffles me how Louis could ever be criticised for any of his work. He’s inspiring, he’s the cheeky chap from Donny who’s done well for himself, provides a platform for upcoming musicians and goes out of his way to engage with his fans, something not many artists do – but they could learn a lot from Louis.
Attending the show with one of my best mates just made the night even better, as we met through One Direction just after their second album. Towards the end of the evening, it looked as though Louis was getting ready to wind down, but oh no, he went on to shock us all by performing No Control, one of 1D’s best songs and all I can say is, we had no control – we were transported back to our teens and early 20s, which was the serotonin boost we all needed.
I also need to shout out his support act, ADMT, also from Doncaster, whom I interviewed recently. Adam was absolutely sensational, and you could tell just how happy he was to be on that stage, belting out “Have you ever been to Yorkshire?” from his track North. What a guy! Pale Waves were also epic, too. Louis really pulled it out of the bag with those decisions.
So, Louis, thank you for a smashing night – once again, you’ve excelled yourself, which I didn’t think was possible! As he’d say himself, Louis, you smashed it, lad.
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