REVIEW: Olly Murs
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REVIEW: Olly Murs (*****)
Bught Park, Inverness
On a bright and breezy Saturday evening, Olly Murs’ particular brand of sunny pop music proved to be a perfect soundtrack.
The chart-topping popstar – playing his first headline show in Inverness as part of promotion company LCC’s ongoing Live in the City series – pulled out all the stops, treating an eager and clearly up-for-it crowd to a full salvo of his biggest hits.
The evening had gotten off to a sedate-enough start with Ginno from MFR doing his level best to cajole the crowd before support act Louisa Johnson hit the stage.
After a few chants and Mexican waves, Ginno seemed to decide that doing an impression would really get the crowd going – specifically doing his best impression of a creepy uncle hitting the brandy at a wedding, as the breakfast time host introduced the 19-year-old X-Factor winner purely in terms of her physical attributes, without mentioning her achievements or talent.
The moment the words “hubba hubba hubba” unironically left his lips – in the year 2017 – was the moment that this reviewer’s eyes rolled right out of their sockets.
Luckily though, it wasn’t long before Louisa reminded him – along with the crowd – of just why she won the talent competition in 2015. And what a reminder – over a half-hour set Louisa’s voice soared through the early evening air, as she led the crowd across the hits of her fledgling career.
Waving to the kids, there was an easy, laid-back charm to her as she wandered breezily around the stage and – accompanied by two backing singers Olivia and Vula – blew through a set that included So Good, Weak, and covers of Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself and Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You.
Closing out with Tears, she asked the crowd, “Are you ready for Olly?” You’re damn right they were – Louisa had done her job perfectly.
And then Olly turned up. And the place erupted.
Quite rightly too – from the second he takes the stage, immediately blasting into the stomping vamp of You Don’t Know Love, he’s the consummate showman. There’s a magnetism to his stage presence that almost puts one in mind of Robbie Williams in his late-90s pomp – but without Robbie’s slightly over-the-top laddishness.
Not that there’s not a bit of the cheeky Essex boy still in Olly Murs – the man could find a way to flirt in an empty room, at one point sending the crowd into a frenzy by declaring he was on the hunt for a Scottish woman, and teasing the crowd about getting naked. And that’s before we even get onto the woman waving her pants – Olly Murs-branded, of course – at him.
Yet for all his swagger, there’s a real sincerity to Olly as he performs that makes him so captivating. Two songs in, grinning from ear to ear, he tells the joyful crowd, “Thank you so much for choosing to spend your evening with me.”
Before adding, slyly, “I won’t let you down, ladies.” The rogue.
If you were a fan of Olly Murs before, you wouldn’t have been disappointed – over an hour-and-a-half long set, every hit that he’s had was attacked with absolute gusto by the popstar. Inverness may have been stop 19 on the tour, yet you couldn’t tell.
Chart-toppers Heart Skips a Beat, Dance With Me Tonight and Troublemaker were all played to a jumping crowd, alongside other fan favourites like Dear Darlin’, Years and Years, and Up – and every song was performed with the sheer energy and conviction of a man who was performing these numbers for the first time.
And that’s what there was for people who weren’t big Olly Murs fans – like yours truly – before the show. Sometimes there’s so much joy in watching an artist at the top of his or her game doing what they do best.
And by the end, that’s what this brilliant night of entertainment was – as much a show as it was a gig, with a man as much a showman as he is a singer.
As the final notes of Years and Years rang out around the makeshift Bught Park arena, Olly signs off with a typical, “Stay cheeky, and keep smiling!”
Well, it’ll be a while before the smiles will be wiped from the faces of the crowd who witnessed it.
LCC Live’s next city gig will be Texas at Inverness Leisure on Monday, September 25, Less than 100 tickets remain – go to www.lcclive.co.uk
