Review: Calum Scott

The atmosphere inside Hull City Hall is palpable – the air is buzzing with the excited conversations of the some 1,200 fans who have packed into the sold-out venue for Calum Scott’s long-awaited homecoming concert.

The show is opened by Calum’s sister Jade. She’s understandably nervous, but not a trace of it shows in her strong, rich voice. She performs two amazing original songs, and covers two. Her unique voice gives Emeli Sande’s Breathing Underwater a makeover that you didn’t know it needed; while the vast majority of the audience have their phone flashlights in the air for her heart-wrenching rendition of Coldplay’s Fix You.

Second act Ellie Rose embraces the pop music of today with her original music, bopping about on stage in her double denim, along with her band. She finishes her set with her first single, likeable acoustic tune Speed Bump which sees her alone onstage with just her guitar for company.

Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for; Calum enters the stage to ear-piercing screams and cheers. His first words to the animated crowd are: “Hull – I’m home!” and for those who didn’t think it could get louder in there, they are sorely mistaken. The teenage girls in the hall must have come close to shattering the antique windows as he kicked off with a song from his upcoming album.

He speaks about his sister Jade, confessing that her version of Fix You had him in tears, and then dedicates his next song, Won’t Let You Down, to her. His next number is also a new one – a heartfelt song that he says is about admitting your feelings to yourself and not keeping them bottled up. Next up is his latest release, Rhythm Inside, which has the whole hall singing and dancing along.

New track, Only You, is dedicated “to my best friend Dan”. The lyrics talk about his struggles growing up and how there was always one person there for him, with whom he could be himself. The next track is another new one bound for the new album, with a thumping bassline – an upbeat number that contrasts heavily with the previous one.

Between numbers, Calum shows us all that he’s still a Hull boy through and through by proclaiming with a chuckle: “It’s absolutely mafting in here!”

Next we have a blended cover of two very popular songs – The Beatles’ Golden Slumber and Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud. The show then takes an unexpected twist as Calum delightedly tells the audience that it is in fact his pianist Reuben’s birthday. Jade returns to the stage carrying an enormous cake, bedecked in candles and the hall rings with the strains of ‘Happy Birthday’ for the embarrassed musician.

Of course no Calum Scott concert would be complete without his incredible cover of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own, which has racked up more than 340 million hits on Spotify and YouTube.  He visibly tears up as every audience member joins in the standing ovation. He closes the show with another new number, Give Me Something, and leaves the stage to thunderous applause and deafening cheers.

An extremely talented and likeable performer, Calum doesn’t let the beaming smile leave his face for even a moment, and sings every song flawlessly. The future is certainly bright for this Hull-born star, and we can’t wait to see how far he goes.