Rhodes, 20h-20h30
To open George Ezra‘s concert there’s Rhodes, a young British lad who kinda looks like George Ezra himself, sort of same hairstyle and colour and all dressed in black. He plays a short set which is enough to convince the audience that this artist has a lot of talent. On stage he is accompanied by his band, a girl who switches between cello and piano, a drummer, bassist and guitarist. Rhodes has a magnificent and powerful voice which allows him to reach pretty high-pitched tones. Some of the songs he plays start really slow with a guitar intro backed up by the piano or the cello and then suddenly the other instruments come in rendering the tune more rock and aggressive. He plays the single “Close Your Eyes”. He also plays a couple of songs on his own, just him and his guitar but that’s enough to fill the room with beautiful sounds. Definitely an artist worth checking out and follow, his debut album Wishes is due to be released on 18th September 2015!
George Ezra, 21h-22h05
The hall darkens but as soon as George Ezra comes in, with a bright smile on his face, it feels as if a ray of sunshine has entered the venue! He starts off, guitar on the hand, with one of his most well known songs: “Cassy’ O”, to which the audience happily sings along. His powerful baritone voice fills the room entirely and live is even more impressive than on the album!
George Ezra introduces the songs by saying its title and “I hope you enjoy it”, of course we do! He is not alone but has his band formed by three guys: a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist.
Smiling through each song he brightens up even more when the audience sings along.
Throughout the set he sings three songs on his own, just him and his acoustic guitar. One of which is a cover of Bob Dylan‘s song “Girl from the North Country” which he introduces by saying “I wish I had written this song but I didn’t”. The gentle picking of his guitar together with his amazing voice make you stand there in awe. Then, still on his own, he plays the beautiful “Leaving it up” saying that he’ll try his best to sing it also on behalf of the choruses, the public joins in in the refrain transforming itself into the missing choir! At the end of the song he claps and thanks the audience saying “That was the choir!”!
The band comes back and there they go with “Blame it on Me” where George Ezra can show off his deep voice!
He says he has written his album Wanted On Voyage while travelling around Europe on his own for a month (with Interrail), so if you were wondering why so many of his songs have cities’ names as titles here’s the answer. When he plays “Barcelona” you can truly feel the Spanish vibes in the music itself and the warmth and colourfulness of the city. His voice takes you with him in the crowded streets.
One song in particular has a really interesting story behind it, he recounts he was invited to spend a few days in Malmö visiting two Swedish girlfriends. The two girls wanted to see the Eurovision song contest but he didn’t want to be sober for it and bought a rum bottle from a man in the park. The next day he was supposed to leave for Budapest, he never got there as he didn’t wake up. And here’s the funny anecdote on how he found inspiration to write the amazing “Budapest”. Already from the first notes the audience is hooked on his words and sounds.
George Ezra and his band come back for an encore playing a short “Blind Man In Amsterdam”. They end the concert with “Do you Hear the Rain” a great song which also has some good old rock guitar riffs and powerful drums in it. Overall a great concert a bit a pity for the rather short set, just little over an hour but since he has only one album that´s probably the reason why…
Setlist:
Cassy O’
Stand By
Listen to the Man
Benjamin Twine
Song 6
Over The Creek (on his own)
Girl from the North Country (on his own)
Leaving it up (on his own)
Blame it on Me
Spectacular Rival
I Try
Barcelona
Budapest
takemetoaconcert 
