“You know things were once really bad in your life when people are applauding you saying you’re happy,” Lewis Capaldi told the crowd of London’s Hyde Park near the start of his second of two sold out headline shows on Sunday night. “But I am. I feel good.”
The Scottish singer-songwriter has always worn his heart on his sleeve. It’s why his tender breakout single ‘Someone You Loved’ connected with so many people, and why debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’ became the best-selling record of both 2019 and 2020. It’s also why his abandoned Pyramid Stage performance at Glastonbury 2023 – where he lost his voice and suffered Tourette’s tics – felt so personal. A few days afterwards, Capaldi announced he would be taking a break to get his "physical and mental health in order" and only returned to the stage last summer. What started as a tentative comeback – the surprise set at Glasto, a guest spot with Noah Kahan at his BST Hyde Park headline gig – grew into a global arena tour, and we’re now three months into a summer festival run that’ll wrap up in September. True to his word, Capaldi does seem to be having an absolute blast being back onstage.
He started Sunday night’s gig, the joint-biggest headline show he’s ever played, with Hollywood. Backed by a five-piece band, the rumbling rock & roll anthem channelled the bruised heartache of Bruce Springsteen while its communal joy was amplified by 65,000 people clapping in unison. The pop defiance of ‘Grace’ ignited the first of many absolutely massive sing-along moments as Capaldi prowled the full length of the stage to get as many people involved as possible while the moody indie rock of ‘Heavenly State Of Mind’ echoed the rugged tenderness of The Smiths.
Early on, Capaldi warned the crowd he had a “shit load of ballads to get through” but the 90-minute gig never felt repetitive. His live band transformed Pointless into a thundering rock epic, debut single Bruises was stripped back to fragile vocals and piano and there was a soulful funk to Hold Me While You Wait and Forget Me. After Sam Fender joined Capaldi on Saturday night for a cover of ‘Rein On Me’, The Kooks’ Luke Pritchard appeared on stage for a rendition of ‘00’s indie staple ‘Naïve’ (“For my money, one of the best songs ever.”).
Calling the gig “a fucking dream come true,” Capaldi promised work would begin on a new album as soon as this tour has wrapped up. As a hint of what’s to come, Almost, Something In The Heavens and Survive from his recent Survive EP took his raw, confessional songwriting to revealing new places alongside a newfound optimism.
There was more confidence in his performance too. At previous gigs, Capaldi’s used humour as a crutch but there were no rambling speeches about haemorrhoids or bodily functions on Sunday night. The many parents who’d brought their kids must have been relieved. He still made jokes about England’s recent world cup success (“the less said about that the better, I’m a bitter, bitter man) and how the crowd were “fools” for paying to see him live, but there was a refreshed trust that his music was enough to carry the show. “I just want to say, there was a point where I didn’t think this would ever be possible again but we’re here and I’m having a great time, so thank you. It’s a really special” he told the crowd. “Having said that, this is a song about my death,” he added with a smirk before the absolutely devastating ‘The Day That I Die’. After an uncertain few years, the future is bright for one of the UK’s biggest pop stars.
