Hoards of fans, young and old, snaked around the block as they eagerly awaited Tom Odell’s sold-out show at Manchester’s O2 Apollo, a setting he later in the evening went on to hail as “one of [his] favourite venues in the whole world.” Upon entering the venue, it was clear to see why, with the warm red walls and rounded acoustics providing a comforting closeness and intimacy, qualities of which are so integral to Odell’s introspective sound and delivery.
A hand-written message welcoming the audience to the tour illuminated the curtain, as the light reflected off beamy-eyed faces waiting with bated breath. Ascending violin phrases slowly swept in, blossoming in a yearning rendition of ‘The Orchestra Takes Flight’, arranged beautifully by co-composer Vincent Ott. A sense of movie-like magic built in the air as a climactic glissando tumultuously plunged in sync with the drop of the curtain, met with rapturous screams from the audience.
Two silhouettes emerged from the darkness of the stage; Odell and his piano. As voice and instrumental became one with the next track of the evening, ‘Answer Phone’, spotlights glistened off the ornate ceiling.
But this was no distraction from the transfixing qualities of Odell’s voice as he neatly segued into ‘The End’ with his accompanying band. Appearing as the opening and closing numbers on his latest album Black Friday, the songs neatly bookended an introduction to Odell’s new and matured sound, utilising the expansive emotional capacity of string instruments. This unravelled itself to great effect onstage as solo violin with gut-wrenching vibrato was paired with double bass strokes sending sub-tones rattling through the floor; features of which were prevalent throughout the rest of the show.
A clear highlight of the evening was the performance of the new album’s titular track ‘Black Friday’. A tuneful audience sang along with gusto, starkly contrasting Tom Odell’s haunting delivery of the self-deprecating lyrics. There were magical qualities about this moment, as a song about insecurities suddenly became so secure within the relationship between Odell and his fans.
There was such a tangible presence to a sense of kindness and calmness that I had not felt at a concert in a very long time, if not ever. I suddenly felt part of a community. Flashing lights pulsated in tempo with a huge climax to the song as the rear curtain dramatically dropped revealing a fierce sea of blue, illuminating the whole venue for the first time. Goosebumps.
It is this track that sits as the most popular on his latest album and which recently propelled him into the top 100 most streamed artists in the world, drawing in over two million streams on the first day of its release and approaching 100 million streams to date. Whilst not quite reaching the remarkable heights of his most renowned track ‘Another Love’ (over 2.2 billion streams!) it is clear that Tom Odell’s fanbase continues to grow exponentially. This was made apparent within the O2 Apollo, which welcomed a tightly-packed audience spanning across generations, all equally as engrossed.
Whilst new numbers like ‘Black Friday’ shone bright, his older work was met with the most enthusiasm from the audience. ‘Hold Me’, from his 2013 debut album Long Way Down, presented an opportunity for Tom to showcase his showmanship at its full capacity. Stepping away from the piano he stood centre stage and beckoned for a singalong, inviting the audience in a call-and-response of the choruses’ hook. Tremors tingled through the floor as the whole crowd launched to their feet in participation and Odell commandingly leapt up on top of the piano, combining his raw and raspy voice with powerful shrieks from the trumpet and saxophone that advanced to the front of the stage. The result was both thrilling and empowering, providing a nice balance and contrast to the smaller intimate numbers within the set.
I could not leave this review without mentioning his performance of ‘Another Love’. After tinkling the melody to Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’, a moment which narrowly missed coming across as corny, Odell sunk his fingers into the keys we are all so familiar with. The audience rose to their feet with an uncontrollable burst of excitement… cue the deafening noise. This juncture provided a shift within the concert where it remarkably felt like the song was the audience’s and not Tom Odell’s. There was an irresistibility to singing along as he threw out his hand to the audience and passionately stamped his foot, cracking a smile as he marvelled at the emphatic noise.
Although some of the songs from his latest album Black Friday understandably did not translate with quite as much nuance as they do in studio recorded format (due to reasons such as lack of sound design and change in instrumentation), the authentic core of what makes Tom and his music so special shone through with beautiful vigour. He took Manchester on an explorative journey through pure human emotion and compassion. Armed with his accomplished and dynamic band, Tom embraced us into the world of him and his piano to therapeutic effect, and I left feeling better than ever.
