TOM GRENNAN // ST LUKE'S GLASGOW
Tom Grennan performed and intimate and atmospheric show at Glasgow’s St Luke’s venue
TOM GRENNAN PERFORMING AT GLASGOW'S ST LUKE'S VENUE - 07/10/2017
PICTURE BY: FINDLAY MACDONALD PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★★
Tom Grennan worked his way through a full set at Glasgow’s St Luke’s that was filled with potent vocals and rich guitar. Before this his support act, Lily Moore, treated the crowd to an expressive and fervent performance. Her opening show was a great example as to why skipping support acts is a big mistake. Versatile and encapsulating; she is definitely one to watch.
After an interval between acts that seemed to be endless, Grennan bounced on to the stage to the Scottish crowd’s delight. Without any introduction him and his band went straight into his most recent single called ‘Royal Highness’ which is only about 3 weeks old. Grennan’s strong voclas instantly had the crowd engaged.
Grennan thanked the crowd after the opening two songs and apologised for his sore throat: ‘I’m ill Glasgow but fuck it, you’ll just have to help me’. He worked his was through more of his set reminding the crowd after every song to join him for a beer at the bar after the show. He brought out his acoustic guitar half way through the set showing his skill doesn’t stop with his voice.
His next song ‘This is the Age’ mixed up the tempo and relaxed the crowd after a series of upbeat songs. The dense storytelling in the lyrics is just another talent of Tom Grennan. After this song, he began to chat to the audience. His attitude made it feel like you were catching with up an old friend at the local pub. He talked about the venue and how, because he was performing in what used to be a church, maybe he should stop swearing.
After some interaction with the audience Grennan went into ‘Giving it All’ a song in which he manages to create a feeling of suspense and tension. His energy and enthusiasm seemed to be endless as he and the band seamlessly flowed into an unreleased song called ‘Barbed Wire’ that he said will be on the upcoming debut album. His next song ‘All Goes Wrong’ showed off his deep and fiery vocals almost causing hysteria amongst the fans.
He took a break and talked to the room about his up and coming album. His recently announced tour is taking him back to Glasgow next year. He thanked his band members for being ‘brilliant’ and got the crowd to help him with his next song ‘Praying’. This one had a somewhat more cheerful feel to it and showed off his ability to alter the mood using tone and songwriting. After the crowd had sung the song with him he shook his head in disbelief and said: ‘stop you are going to make my head even bigger’.
He walked off with his band and came back on by himself with his guitar to play the moody and touching ‘Sweet Hallelujah’. While the crowd worshiped him Grennan took the time to thank Lily Moore, the support act, saying: ‘Watch out for Lily Moore, she’s fucking coming for you’. The band came back on and joined him and the frenzy began when the recognisable and brilliant guitar riff of ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’ started to play. Animated and forceful, he pranced around the stage with his bottle of water in hand to the crowd’s adulation. Towards the end of the song he took a phone of a fan in the front row and filled himself singing the final lines of the catchy and upbeat track.
Grennan really shines on his EP with the song ‘Something in the Water’, and live it was no different. He played his guitar and filled the room with sentiment and warmth. His apology for not sounding as good as possible because of his illness was forgotten. In fact it was frightening to think of how good he could sound if his throat was 100%.
Tom Grennan said that when he comes back to Glasgow’s ABC next year he will have a number 1 record and with his mixture of dark, soulful lyrics and some joyful, upbeat tracks it his hard to argue with him. The only confusing thing is why he is not higher up the music ladder in Britain already. I am looking forward to seeing how far the 22 year-old goes before we see him again in Glasgow.
TOM GRENNAN'S TOUR CONTINUES:
DECEMBER 11TH : HALLE O2 - HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
DECEMBER 12TH : AR THEATER - COLOGNE, GERMANY
DECEMBER 13TH : HAKKEN - HAMBURG, GERMANY
DECEMBER 14TH : BADEHAUS - BERLIN, GERMANY
DECEMBER 15TH : FEIERWERK / ORANGE HOUSE - MUNICH, GERMANY
DECEMBER 17TH : PAPIERSAAL - ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
MARCH 16TH 2018 : SWX - BRISTOL, UK
MARCH 17TH 2018 : O2 INSTITUTE - BIRMINGHAM, UK
MARCH 18TH 2018 : THE WATERFRONT - NORWICH, UK
MARCH 20TH 2018 : O2 SHEPHERD'S BUSH EMPIRE - LONDON, UK
MARCH 22ND 2018 : O2 RITZ - MANCHESTER, UK
MARCH 23RD 2018 : O2 ABC - GLASGOW, UK
MARCH 24TH 2018 : ROCK CITY - NOTTINGHAM, UK
MARCH 25TH 2018 : LEADMILL - SHEFFIELD, UK