21/10/2014 | 02 Acadamy Bristol
From University Drop-out to Sold Out Musician.
Nominated for the BBC sound of 2014, which showcases emerging artists in the last 12 months, George Ezra finished 5th, beating the likes of rock duo Royal Blood and modern soul band Jungle. A few days later it is announced that his February UK tour sold out in less than 10 minutes – what a year it has been for the University of Bristol drop-out.
On the 21st October 2014, bluesy artist George Ezra performed at the 02 academy in Bristol, his self-proclaimed musical hometown. The sheer magnitude of the venue was definitely a far cry from the cities’ local pub acoustic scene which Ezra was no stranger to earlier in his career. However, his folksy, acoustic sound isn’t something we haven’t heard before. With no shortage of husky, rustic voices to charm our ears – such as the likes of artists Jake Bugg, Sam Smith and Paolo Nutini – a certain doubt comes to mind… Is Ezra just another guitar-wielding one-hit wonder? Or can he really break his way into such an overcrowded genre?
The sold out arena and excited ambience of the crowd certainly points towards the latter. With the 02 packed to maximum capacity – a notably large percentage of the crowd consisting of swooning females – everyone was straining to get a good view of Ezra; their IPhone cameras at the ready, impatiently urging the English singer-songwriter to arrive on stage.
“It’s good to be back in Bristol, had my hair cut. Took a stroll up park street and got some food – you know, the things you do in Bristol”
Ezra shouts to the audience, with nostalgic affection for the city.
He arrived on stage with such enthusiasm that the whole crowd hushed.
Surprisingly, despite the dramatic anticipation from the fans prior to Ezra’s arrival, this unfortunately didn’t reflect in the crowd whilst he broke into his first song Cassy ‘O, a catchy folk tune from his second EP. The majority of the audience were both expressionless and motionless, lacking any kind of rhythmic movement like a queue of people waiting for their early morning caffeine fix – dull and anticlimactic. However as Ezra continued into his set, the audience noticeably became more receptive to the songs; singing along and actively engaging with Ezra’s attempts to interact with the crowd.
Mid-way through the set he unsurprisingly chose to slow down the tempo and, leaving his band behind, performed Benjamin Twine and Leave It Up To You (both songs are from his debut album, ‘Wanted on Voyage’, which was released in June). The acoustic songs were received extremely well by the fans, despite Ezra’s apologies for the lack of a choir on the album. The band then returned to quicken the pace with the upbeat Stand By Your Gun – my personal favourite off the album.
Ezra engaged with the audience throughout the set confidently and with a subtle swagger – you couldn’t help but smile at his playful comments…
“This is a song I wrote in Barcelona, it’s called Barcelona”.
At one point Ezra even enthusiastically made a ‘shout-out’ to ‘Sharon’, a member of the audience who had accompanied her daughter to the show, making many a woman in the room jealous, I’m sure! Geddon Shazza!
After launching into his UK No. 1 hit Budapest, from the album ‘Wanted on Voyage’, the whole crowd sung along and danced with fervour (reassuring me they hadn’t lost their ability to move!). Unsurprisingly Ezra looked genuinely pleased to hear his lyrics screamed back to him as his set finished – every artists dream!
At the end of his performance, Ezra kicked off the inevitable encore with Cyndi Lauper’s 80’s power ballad Girls Just Want To Have Fun which was indeed a crowd pleaser – Cyndi Lauper fans eat your heart out!
An overall fantastic performance by George Ezra; his stage presence was not only entertaining but both effortless and enchanting. Ending on EP favourite Did You Hear the Rain? I can safely say that the gig definitely did wash those Tuesday blues away.
HANNAH RYAN 