TOM WALKER // BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, DUNDEE
Tom Walker plays an intimate sold-out gig at Dundee’s Beat Generator for his ‘Home Run’ acoustic tour with local support acts Billy Mitchell and Be Charlotte.
TOM WALKER PERFORMING AT BEAT GENERATOR LIVE, DUNDEE - 00,02.2020
PICTURE BY: | COREY MCKAY
★★★★★ (5/5)
Thomas Walker is a Scottish singer-songwriter. He rose to fame after the release of his single "Leave a Light On", which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart in June 2018. Since then he has not stopped and has continued to create and release amazing music which often reaches the charts. His distinctive voice and Scottish accent have helped him become so well known in the indie rock and pop scene. During his whole tour, he has made sure to have local support acts for each tour date. This is a great way for a well-known signer to help less known artists like he was a few years ago.
His first local support act was Billy Mitchell, a known local Dundonian singer. Billy has been performing in Dundee but also going back and forth to Glasgow to finish off his new single with Bruce Rintoul. Billy performed a number of his songs throughout his set at Beat Generator. He made the decision to perform his single Psycho’ last which was well known by some fans in the audience. So he definitely ended his set with fans in high spirits. He mentioned that he got to meet Tom Walker before his set and how he was such a genuine guy, it made Billy very relatable as he was just as excited as everyone else to see him perform live too. With Billy’s new single coming out in a few weeks supporting Tom Walker was perfect timing for him to promote himself to locals and create some hype around it.
Be Charlotte was next to support Tom Walker at his Dundee gig. Be Charlotte is well known in the Dundee music scene as she has performed for years. She is a 21-year-old singer who has performed across the country for many years now. A few years ago she performed as the main stage at Dundees Carnival 56 festival which was a great opportunity for her to gain more fans and experience. Supporting Tom Walker was also a great way to attract more local fans and get herself recognised as she has not performed in her home town for a while. She opened with Dreamers and then throughout her set she sang her new single ‘Rumours Don’t Work’ which she explained is about being in almost a fantasy world from bullies. Be Charlotte finished her set with ‘Lights Off’ which she made sure to get everyone involved with as the crowd sang part of the song back to her. She has a natural talent for engaging the crowd and having a strong presence throughout her set. You can really see that performing is something that comes naturally to her.
Tom Walker finally walked through the crowd from the back of the venue which had everyone cheering. Once he took to the stage he started to perform one of his well-known single ‘Angels’ which was a great start to his set. He continued to capture the grown and gain the full attention of everyone in the building by singing many of his well-written songs. His stories that came along with nearly every song were so touching and clearly true to him. He was so open with the crowd which created a new meaning for the lyrics in his songs. Hearing about his life and his journey through music made him so much more relatable. His love for performing in small venues was very clear as he mentioned how he has gone from performing to 6000 people a night to performing in Dundee to around 400 people. He expressed his love for being able to see the whites of everyone’s eyes in the crowd and how the atmosphere is much more personal.
Tom Walker made an end to his set by performing his very well known single ‘Leave a Light On’ which was, of course, sang by everyone in the crowd. This well-known song was sung beautifully and the strength and in his voice was instantly recognisable. His unique voice meant for a great evening as it felt like you were witnessing something special happen. At most gigs the artist will go off the stage at the end and come back on for an encore however Tom Walker explained how awkward it would be for him to walk through the crowd to only come back again a few minutes later. So instead of leaving the stage he just continued to finish his set with his encore song called ‘Shakin’. After he finished his set he thanked the crowd and walked through the cheering crowd of which many thanked him for a great evening. Tom Walker put on a great tour with some very talented local support acts. Having the local support made the tour date so much more personalised as it was a lineup that not many can say they have witnessed.