In
2013 Luke Friend became a household name when
he took the X Factor by storm and finished the
show in third place, he then headed out on the
X Factor tour in early 2014 and since then he
has signed a deal with RCA Records and has silently
been working behind the scenes with the likes
of Roy stride from Scouting For Girls and Mike
Duce from Lower Than Atlantis on his debut album
where he has let his new found friends in for
some co-writing and if his recent top 40
single ‘Hole In My Heart’ which was
co wrote by Roy Stride is anything to go by then
Luke Friend is onto a winner.
Luke Friend has been on the road since Saturday
on a sold out tour at intimate sized venues across
the country and tonight he headed down to the
Academy 2 in Bristol for the penultimate show
of the tour and as soon as I reached the venue
I had a feeling that tonight was going to be a
hot and sweaty experience and I was correct as
I was greeted by many fans downstairs complaining
to staff about the heat levels in the venue and
the overcrowding and as soon as I made my way
to the room the heat seriously
hit me like I had just stepped off a plane to
Jamaica except I wasn’t greeted by glorious
sunshine but hundreds of sweaty and excited Luke
Friend fans instead.
Talking to Luke Friend before the show he told
me how the whole tour sold out really far in advanced
and how he had the option to upgrade tonight’s
show to the main room of the Academy which would
of meant a lot more ticket sales and a lot more
fans attending but he chose not to so his debut
headline tour would stay a complete sell out and
it would become a more intimate experience for
his fans before he plays the bigger rooms and
venues which is pretty much guaranteed after the
success and excitement of tonight’s show.
The
lights dimmed at 9pm and Luke Friend and his two
man band took to the stage to loud screams from
hundreds of fans, some who had been waiting outside
the venue since sunrise to catch a glimpse of
their hero as he arrived at the venue and also
to get the hottest place in the house standing
right up close to the barrier to ensure they had
the most intimate gig experience they could possibly
get.
The first thing I noticed tonight was that since
his time on the X Factor Luke Friend has matured
and become more confident, he may only be 18 but
hehad the crowd in the palm of his hands tonight
and took every opportunity to move about on stage
and also climbing up on the barrier which separated
him
from his fans so he could show them respect hi
fiving as many fans as he possible could.
Now I am used to people holding their mobile phones
in the air capturing pixelated photos and videos
of their favourite artists at gigs but tonight
was a total eye opener as people were not only
holding up their phones but many brought their
tablets and Ipads and a select few were also face
timing their friends during the gig so their friends
who were not at the gig for whatever reason could
view it from the comfort of their bedroom, I’m
not really sure what I think of this but the security
staff had their work cut out telling
fans they were not allowed to record during the
gig to only realise that it was impossible to
enforce the rule as 90% of the attendance were
recording.
Musically Luke Friend treated his fans to many
songs from his forthcoming debut album, a few
cover songs and also some mash-ups which everyone
knows he loves doing and has always executed them
so well. The fans went crazy when Luke Friend
treated them to a cover of ‘Skinny Love’
which was mixed up with ‘Cannonball’,
they also went crazy for his forthcoming single
‘Dynamite’ which has hit single written
all over it.
Half way through the set Luke Friend played ‘Medicine’
a song which he wrote with tonight’s support
act Fiona Bevan about his late grandfather and
he dedicated the song tonight to both Fiona Bevan
and his late grandfather, the song was slow and
emotional and one that so many people can relate
to as let’s face it losing a loved one is
quite possibly one of the hardest things to deal
with in life and it is safe to say Luke’s
grandfather would be proud of him for writing
and performing such a personal song.
The
show came to a close with ‘Right Now’
before Luke went back stage for a couple of minutes
whilst his eager fans started singing the lyrics
to his debut single ‘Hole In My Heart’,
which saw Luke and his two piece band came back
on stage to perform the ever so slow ‘I
Won’t Say I Loved You’ which was then
followed up with his debut single ‘Hole
In My Heart’ the song which the majority
of tonight’s crowd had been waiting patiently
for all night and Luke and his fans nailed it
as everyone sung along word for word.
To me it seems like a brave decision by Luke Friend
to hold off for so long before releasing his own
material and heading out on tour but after tonight’s
show and the general success of his debut headline
tour it seems to have paid off And I am pretty
sure that once his debut album is out later in
the year he will back to headline the main room
of the Academy which I am confident he will easily
sell out.
Luke Friend 5/5
Review By Trigger
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