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truly talented
in 20th Century Retro

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Denise Welch busting some moves at Will's gig tonight according to Dean Piper on twitter. :dance:
Denise Welch busting some moves at Will's gig tonight according to Dean Piper on twitter. :dance:

 

Gawd - She was at the ITV special as well I remember!

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Gawd - She was at the ITV special as well I remember!

 

I didn't know that. Quite a fan then!

Itv daybreak news presenter

 

@deanpiper @will_young31 God that Will Young is GOOD isn't he

 

Lawson (support band)

 

First night we've been able to stay and see the full show tonight! @will_young31 is incredible! Honoured to share the stage with him!

Love this tweet. :D

 

@FJC85Freddy Crook

On way home from Will Young concert. Absolutely fantastic. Loved it. No gimmicks or frills. Just a beautiful voice & great songs

And the show biz types seemed to have a good time. :D

ChartshowtvChart Show TV

The @will_young31 gig tonight was Amaze! Jealousy was anthemic....and we even got a remixed version of his Pop Idol song Evergreen!

theshowbiz411The Showbiz 411

So Mr @will_young31 was great tonight! Amazing voice. We've heard his latest single, Come On, is technically out this week, and it's ace!

 

Love seeing him tweet like this.. :wub: happy man in his Jump Suit! :lol:

will_young31 Will Young

What a gig tonight!!!! Great crowd, band were just rocking and I Am on home turf. I am also wearing a jump suit which is very 'freeing'

Lots of tweets in response to that!

theemattmayMatthew May

@will_young31 definitely not having any mental images. definitely not.

:lol:

Will Young | A Unique Voice in British Pop

 

Will Young has been gigging around the UK with songs from his new album Echoes which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The music comes from stong lyric ideas, poppy and melancholic simple melodies. A tale of unrequited love, longing and desire. The multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter, whose hits include Leave Right Now and All Time Love, performs at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

 

It’s been ten years since Will young won Pop Idol in February 2002 and Echoes is his fifth album; recorded remarkably after Will had his tonsils out. Co-produced by Richard X, known for his “synthesised, grungy pop music.” You can hear a bit of Kelis’ Milkshake, Climie Fisher’s Rise To The Occasion and The Beautiful South’s Mother’s Pride and Deacon Blue’s Dignity. He also co-produced the entirety of Will Young‘s album (2011).

 

The concert at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire was intimate and warm, the crowd polite and ready for a gentle sway and singalong. Lots of couples mouthed along to songs that they would later make babies to. The opening has the beige-raincoated band enter the stage through a black door marked with the mysterious Number 18. Leaving Will to exit last in his Steed bowler hat. The musicians and singers all left through the front door and immediately took their coats and hats off; which didn’t make any sense. Why not enter the door?

 

The huge back drop of white tiles or keyboard buttons that melted with fire reds and sparkled with blues was a technical marvel. The drums and keyboards perched up high on light boxes and three great vocalists with a fourth mike stand set up for Will so that he could join them to do his own backing vocalist and join in their dancing arms.

 

Will was in an extremely jolly mood, huge smile, sparkling teeth and he gets an award for the funniest come back lines - he tells us that a woman in Glasgow wanted to ‘bash his back door in’ – which he said, ‘perturbed’ him. When would ever hear a popstar staying he was perturbed? It felt like he wanted to stay for a chat and told us that he used to live on the other side of Shepherd’s Bush Green and came to gigs at the Empire… so he should have known that with a standing crowd on an un-raked floor to raise himself aloft on the stage so that we all could see him. Camera flashes only popped when he jumped up on the back stage and in a quieter moment the hecklers asked him to ‘save them from the tall people’. On one song he was even crouched lying down watching TV cartoons and disappeared for a whole song. Nice visual touches came for Silent Valentine with a cascade of hearts raining on the stage prompting Will to explain that at the last gig he’d swallowed one of the petals. The Avenger’s style exit at the last song, before the encore, had him bowlered-up and action jumping into the stage caught in one flash bulb monochromatic moment.

 

There was a perfect pace to the evening with the anthemic and emphatic Come On which Will describes as his call to ‘man up!’ – a sure dancefloor hit – matched by his other hits and a cover of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill with its tremulous breathlessness. I Just Want A Lover which started off as a ballad duet and was recorded in just one hour, is one of the most upbeat songs. It’s for ‘that time in between relationships when you don’t want anything serious.’ There are three sad songs on the Echoes album of which Lie Next To Me, a song written after a bad week, is about knowing that he couldn’t see someone, couldn’t touch them and just being beside them was all he was going to get.

 

It was a colourful performance with a flashback to Pop Idol with Light my Fire and its orange lava lamp effects and a catchy finale of the bitter sweet Jealousy on a stage tinged to green. There’s a lesson in this album for us with Happy Now teaching not to hang on, releasing the past and about Will feeling content about being in his thirties and foregoing wrinkles for some wisdom. The most personal song on the album is Safe From Harm about learning to distance himself from a friend who can’t look after themself very well – not finishing the friendship but learning to look after himself.

 

Will Young has is the most unique voice in British pop and after a performance like that we only wish Good Things for him.

http://shinesquad.wordpress.com/2011/11/22...in-british-pop/

Edited by truly talented

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London reviewers are always harder to impress & impress he has. :yahoo:

 

Thanks Bev. Hope you don't mind but I've added a bit of the review you missed.

Edited by truly talented

Thanks Gill, i can't beileve i missed trhat bit off..it's the best bit! :rolleyes:

 

Lots of music peeps going again tonight!. :D SS over from the US.

xolondon Stephen Sears

@jbspitzer I'll email you now. I am leaving for will young in like 30 mins.

@Pip_EntFocusPip Ellwood

Anyone else at Will Young tonight? #willyoung

Edited by Sweetwilliamfan

Aw - that was a lovely review - someone who really understands his lyrics :wub:

 

Thanks Bev.

 

 

@ChartRigger I am standing with @xolondon and I can see Pete Waterman in the balcony at Will Young. Wywh.
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Just read about Peter Waterman being there. Brilliant for him to see how Will has evolved as an arist and consumate performer.

Fab tweets again tonight! :dance: so happy to read those.TV types..bloggers, DS reporters all there..

His trousers were enjoyed by many. :P

Edited by Sweetwilliamfan

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How about this for a review ? :yahoo: :wub:

 

EF Rating: 

4

Will Young is one of the most successful artists to come from a reality TV show. In 2002 he won the hearts of the nation during Pop Idol and walked away with the crown. As he fast approaches a decade in the music industry, Will has released five studio albums and sold over 8 million albums worldwide. Last night he performed his second sold-out date at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire.

One of the remarkable things about seeing Will Young live is that he’s grown so much in the 9 years since winning Pop Idol. When he first came out of the show he was known as a slightly cheeky chap with a soulful voice but over the years his warm personality and increasingly powerful voice has become his trademark. Last night both were in abundance as Will performed an 18 song set to a packed audience.

 

After being suitably warmed-up by Jodie Marie and Lawson, the audience screams started the minute the opening bars to Come On played. The band, and Will, entered the stage through a door that had been positioned in the centre before taking their respective places and removing their outdoor coats. An unusual entrance it certainly was but it was classic quirky Will.

 

The setlist for the evening was a combination of tracks from Echoes and some of Will's classics. The balance worked really well with his new dancier sound fitting in perfectly next to his classic pop hits. Of the newer tracks I Just Want A Lover was an early highlight with it's pulsating groove rippling through the audience as Will hit notes higher than we knew possible (although the tightness of his trousers could have provided some aid there). Throughout the track Will wiggled his hips to the beat and moved around the stage. Outsider provided a poignant moment as Will sat on stage infront of a TV screen singing the heartfelt ballad. The La Roux-like Personal Thunder provided another highlight with Will's voice sounding as magnificent as it ever has.

 

Early in the set Will performed an energetic version of his hit Your Game and bounded round the stage with impressive energy jumping up onto the platforms occupied by the various band members. There were some surprises in the setlise. Will revisited his early years with a reworked arrangement of Evergreen, a soulful rendition of Light My Fire and an atmospheric performance of You and I. He also threw in little-performed fan favourite Switch It On and of course now Will show would be complete without his signature hit Leave Right Now.

 

Our favourite moment came on the gorgeous Who Am I? which captivated the audience and called for silence as Will's tender vocal expressed the emotion behind the song. The moment was truly spine-tingling and was one of many instances that showcased how much Will has grown as a vocalist.

 

Throughout the set Will interacted with the audience through cheeky banter. At one point he revealed a woman in Newcastle left him speechless by shouting 'I'll smash your back doors in' whilst later in the show he asked the audience to buy him a pint so he could share one with us. His banter was funny and he really engaged the audience between songs.

 

The set ended with a long sing-intro to the band (to the tune of Hit The Road Jack) and a rousing rendition of recent hit Jealousy. In years to come the latter will become known as one of Will's greatest hits and it certainly had the audience singing and dancing.

 

Last night marked the third time we've seen Will perform live and we can safely say he continues to get better and better. With oodles of confidence, a warm stage persona and flawless vocals the show was something rather special. He may have come from Pop Idol but his output has been more consistent and interesting than the majority of UK performers. If last night's crowd reaction was anything to go by then Will should be around for at least another 10 years and we will be in the audience enjoying his incredible music.

 

Setlist

 

Come On

I Just Want A Lover

Hearts On Fire

Changes

Your Game

Light My Fire

Outsider

Silent Valentine

Losing Myself

Personal Thunder

Who Am I?

You and I

Switch It On

Leave Right Now

Running Up That Hill

Evergreen

Hit The Road Jack (band intros)

Jealousy

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