The Return of the Soulman: Lemar visits Manchester’s O2 Ritz

Lemar, the legendary noughties pop and soul heartthrob, returned to Manchester to commemorate 20 years since the release of his first album and celebrate his newest album Page in My Heart, in the first of two special nights across the UK. The artist is known for hits like ‘Dance (With U)’, ‘If There’s Any Justice’, ‘Time To Grow’ and his stripped back cover of rock band the Darkness‘ ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’. His flawless and smooth vocals effortlessly reach celestial heights with his falsettos in previous classics, and fans were eagerly awaiting the chance to hear him live.

Before Lemar’s arrival, the talented singer-songwriter Azu Leche graced the stage in an eye-popping set of colourful dungarees that matched his charmingly enthusiastic charisma. His sound was a unique mix of folk, soul and African influences. With an acoustic guitarist and two backing vocalists harmonising, his transcendent voice encouraged the whole audience to dance and lose themselves in the irresistible rhythm of songs like ‘High Table’ and ‘Plastic Life’.

As the lights dimmed and the crowd screamed, Lemar’s guitarists, backing singer and keyboard player stood solemnly preparing their instruments and gazing into the crowd before Lemar took to the stage, wearing a handsome black sequinned suit with matching pants that shimmered and refracted in the gleam of the spotlight. Meanwhile, in a perfect capitulation of his soulful energy and grooviness, he played ‘Soulman’, a song I was surprised to realise was almost as old as myself now! The next song leaped into his newest album, with ‘Free Your Mind’ exploring synthesised and electro-disco rhythms but maintaining the integrity of his smooth falsettos. Similarly, ‘Future Love’ brought in a funky Michael Jackson-like dance rhythm, a catchy chorus, and a toe-tapping beat, as did his later performance of ‘Dust’.

In a blast back to the past, he then returned to the earworm ’50/50′, before later performing ‘Wait Forever’ and ‘Weight of the World’ – two songs that are unapologetically from the noughties with that flavour of nostalgic boyband pop seen in artists like Blue‘s Simon Webb and JLS, who coincidentally sang his later ballad ‘What About Love’ in their duet for Sport Relief 2010 – a song he performed with every fibre of his being. Other love songs included the faster paced ‘Lullaby ‘and my personal favourite, ‘Time To Grow’, which truly showcased the versatility and emotional resonance of Lemar’s powerful vocals as they harmonised and slowly crescendoed into eye-watering reflections of loneliness and passionate outbursts of heartbreak as he candidly sat facing the audience.

Next up was one of his most famous, ‘Dance (With U)’ spliced with Bruno Mars‘ ‘Uptown Funk’ which perfectly complemented his flirtatious and groovy attitude, especially when all of the musicians gathered around him creating that iconic dance line. This was well followed by his equally energetic cover of King’s of Leons‘ ‘Sex on Fire’. 

His roots in R&B and soul reappear in his faithful acoustic cover of ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, hitting the notes effortlessly and ironically topping the original artist’s rock rendition. The soulful elements of ‘Its Not That Easy’ in particular remind me of the more upbeat songs of Billy Ocean and other musicians from his era. Meanwhile ‘Take Care’ felt like a surprising but much welcomed departure from Lemar’s usual style, broaching more into the style of John Legend before returning to his older stylings in a passionate revision of ‘Someone Should Tell You’, oozing that nostalgic 90s and 00s pop sound.

You can stream Page in My Heart below: