Music / Reviews
Review: George Ezra, Lloyds Amphitheatre
Just last year, George Ezra was playing to a half-full Fiddlers in Bedminster. But on Wednesday, the Lloyds Amphitheatre was his:
Ezra arrived on stage to bellow out Cassy O followed by Stand by Me, fans ran from all corners to join the front-of-the-stage crowd.
The Bristol Institute of Modern Music graduate stuck fairly closely to his number one selling album, Wanted on Voyage, bar a very well-received cover of Macy Gray’s I Try.
The 22-year-old, who once called Bristol his “spiritual home” and sold out this gig in less than 90 minutes, remained humble as ever, punctuating his hits with anecdotes and observations.
He addressed the large percentage of the crowd holding up red, Heart FM-administered signs reading ‘I love George Ezra’, saying: “I was holding one of those a few years ago when the Hoff played at Cabot Circus.”
While his audience might have hoped to hear a few new tracks, all of his songs were delivered with perfection and enthusiasm.
Breakthrough single Budapest was kept back for his final song before the encore, Blind Man in Amsterdam, and finally, rock-tainted (and in my opinion, his strongest song) Did you hear the Rain?
Supporting Ezra was Game of Thrones actor-turned-singer(ish) Raleigh Richards, who plays Grey Worm in the hit HBO series.
Raleigh failed to garner any enthusiasm from the crowd and it was hard not to wonder whether the covetable support slot would have been better deserved to an artist with more talent and less media attention.
Bristol Summer Series 2015 is a series of open air concerts at Lloyds Amphitheatre. Still to play are Kaiser Chiefs (June 25), Seasick Steve (June 26) and Jessie J (June 27). For tickets, visit www.bristolsummerseries.com.