As part of his UK tour, Britain’s Got Talent 2015 contestant Calum Scott visited Nottingham’s Rock City to perform his hit songs off his debut album ‘Only Human’.
Back in 2015, Calum Scott auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent and was granted the ‘golden buzzer’ by Simon Cowell, fast-tracking him to the live shows. Fast forward to 2018 and his debut album “Only Human” reached number four on the UK charts and his debut single “Dancing on my Own” has been certified as 2x Platinum.
He is currently embarking on his UK and European tour, taking him from his home town of Hull, to the likes of Sweden and Portugal.
On 20 April, Calum played at Nottingham’s Rock City, along with support act Daniel Docherty who got the show off to a flying start with his half an hour set and nothing but his guitar and a loop station, allowing him to record himself live and play it back. This effectively created the illusion that there was a whole band playing along with him, but impressively it was just him.
Come 8:45pm and Calum started his set with his upbeat song “Come Back Home” to get the party started, greeted by cheering and most importantly, an audience who knew all the words. I’ll admit I was nervous going into this concert because I was worried it would either be a half-empty venue, or the crowd wouldn’t know any of his music so audience participation would be at a very low point. But I almost let out an audible sigh of relief when everyone else started singing along too, and granted the venue wasn’t packed to bursting, but it was by no means empty either.
Stating that the audience was “one of the loudest” he’s known, he then transitioned into “Good to You” before performing his single “Rhythm Inside” and an acoustic set. His ability to express all the emotion he feels is astounding, especially whilst performing an unreleased track “No Matter What” telling the truth about his coming out story, and the reactions of his friends and family.
His emotion is raw, and his story-telling ability through the music surely leaves a message that resonates with every single member of the audience in one way or another. This only multiplied when he himself started crying on stage, leading into another round of applause and cheer for him that seemed endless. Fully captivating his struggle and inner conflict, Calum also performed “If Our Love is Wrong” – another heart-wrenching ballad.
Dedicating his heartfelt and stripped back track “You are the Reason” to the audience and to everyone who has helped him achieve his goal, before making a short speech on how he wishes to see the human race unite again, he captivated the hearts of the entire audience within minutes, if not seconds.
But despite describing his music as mostly “sad songs and ballads”, Calum proved he can create a great pop song too, including his track “Give Me Something”, allowing him to jump up and down and all around the stage, seemingly having the time of his life. This makes it extremely hard to believe that his “Only Human” tour is only his first headlining set, after supporting Emeli Sande on her tour last year. His stage presence and ability to entertain, whilst interacting with the audience, definitely makes him a performer, not just a singer, that is worth watching.
He ended the show with the song that “changed his life” – Dancing on my Own – and received thunderous applause that seemed to leave him stunned and overwhelmed. A humble and grateful human and an extremely talented performer who eventually left the stage, but not before promising “I will be back”.
By Faith Pring