Review: Will Young at O2 City Hall Newcastle

Review by Mandy Charlton

Will Young O2 City Hall Newcastle

It seems only yesterday that Will Young won Pop Idol and let me tell you, I was so heavily invested in him by the end of that show that I feel like he’s been a constant in my life for the past 20 years.

When his 20-year album was released I bought it on the first day but it was only at this concert that I got to see him perform live for the first time.

There’s something amazing about Will Young, he opens his mouth and he can sing, like really sing, he sounds the same on stage as he does on Vinyl, exactly the same!!  That’s something you can’t always say about other artists.  Will Young could sing the alphabet and I’d probably go out and buy it (No Will, you really don’t have to, it’s okay).  Last night he sang a story from 20 years ago and then sang Happy Birthday, every time he opened his mouth he sang in perfect tune.

All of the hits were there last night apart from my personal favourite “Your Game” but I’ll forgive him for that as he sang many, many hits including some I hadn’t heard for ages like Mission of Love and Torn.  Grace reminded me of all of the times we used to sing it on Singstar and All Time Love, well, that one always makes me cry and last night was not an exception. Jealousy, The Long and Winding Road, Leave Right Now, every single song of his 20-year career is quite brilliant but let me tell you, he’s come a long way since Evergreen and Light My Fire.

Will is not only an amazing singer, he’s really very funny, he’s also human and flawed and he admits that which only goes to make him more endearing. His stories made me giggle and his reaction to a heckler was quite frankly hilarious.

For me, the concert just wasn’t long enough, I could have quite happily listened to Will for hours, though I’m sure he does have a schedule of many more cities to entertain.

You know that feeling when you’re so into the music that you’re on a high, it takes you to nirvana, you know it won’t last forever but just for a moment the world and all of its problems disappear.  Just for a moment, everything is perfect and that’s why I will always love music, on vinyl, streamed but most of all seeing artists like Will Young performing live.