Bradley Simpson in Manchester

Words & Photography : Alisha Lawton

What's better than going to a gig on a warm Friday night in Manchester? Nothing! So that's exactly where we are tonight - headed to the O2 Ritz in Manchester to go and see Bradley Simpson. 

Opening the show was Nieve Ella, where she had stripped everything back and played an acoustic set with just herself and her guitarist, Finn Marlow. Throughout the set, she played a mix of released songs that the fans knew and loved, a cover, and a couple of unreleased songs for the crowd to wrap their ears around. After playing an unreleased song called ‘Good Grace’, she announced that the song was due to be her next single at which the audience cheered; it was clear to see that she had a lot of her own fans in the crowd.

As the fans in the venue anticipated Bradley’s arrival, songs by Royal Otis and Selena Gomez played throughout the venue, and before you knew it the show was starting, Bradley entered the stage to the first notes of the song ‘Getting Clear’. As he made his way around the stage, the fans showed their love for the singer. 

Moving into the set, Bradley addressed the audience and told them that he was going to make sure that they went home with no voices and sore feet from dancing so much. He went on to say that he loved Manchester and welcomed the audience to The Panic Years Tour!

As the venue lights turned blue, the song ‘Almost’ began to be played out, the colour of the lights reflected the way the song feels and the lyrics being sung out from the audience. Switching the mood very quickly, Bradley grabbed his guitar and told the audience that it would be okay for them to have a dance throughout the next song. Half way through the set Bradley took a moment to speak to the crowd and told them to spread some love around the venue and hug the person next to them, which all of the crowd did. He went on to say thank you to the crowd and told them that he was going to say thank you a lot throughout the show as this night in Manchester was his biggest headline solo show to date. He went on to talk about his debut solo album, ‘The Panic Years’, and how it was received. He told the audience about how he has done another version of one of the songs on the album which received a cheer from the audience. He then introduced his support act, Nieve Ella, and her guitarist, Finn Marlow, to the stage to sing their version of ‘Favourite Band’ together following the release of the single. The crowd sang every word and this was clear to be one of the best moments of the night; the energy was unmatched. 

Later in the set, Bradley took a moment to ask the audience if anyone had been to a show on the tour before at which a number of the crowd cheered. He went on to tell them that at the previous 5 shows he had done something and he wanted to do it again tonight. This being him getting into the crowd to play a song acoustically, after giving some rules to the audience he was off into the crowd to play ‘The Bands Not Breaking Up’, with just his guitar and vocals. The entire crowd was in awe, appreciating this moment. For the last chorus, he got the crowd to sing with him, which was a beautiful moment for Bradley and the fans in the room. 

After returning to the stage, Bradley told the audience about how he wrote the album about being in his 20s and growing up in the band (The Vamps). The overall message of the album is that everything will be okay in the end and if not that everyone could go back to one of his shows and they could scream it out together! This led him into playing the title track of the album: ‘The Panic Years’. 

As the show came to a close, it was clear to see that Bradley knows how to command a room and how to be the picture perfect entertaining front man! The show was energetic and captivating. Bradley is someone who you can see being just as successful as his previous band on his own.