WORDS AND IMAGES NATHAN COLE
I’m making my way to Manchester tonight for a highly anticipated show at the O2 Ritz. After huge success during lockdown with his debut album ‘Ugly Is Beautiful’ Californian singer, producer and comedian Oliver Tree is set to take the stage. Despite the train strikes tonight, there is no shortage fans, an impressive queue is starting to form outside the Ritz, all waiting for their spot in tonights venue, the line spanning a significant distance. As we make our way inside, the energy is high with anticipation, everyone can’t wait much longer.
Royal And The Serpent (R.A.T.S) are first on the bill and certainly look ready to play as they bounce on stage. The sound of screeching rats flood the venue as they kick things off with ‘I Can’t Get High’ which immediately gets the crowd moving and shouting along. Lead singer Ryan Santiago is no stranger to a crowd as she marched up and down the stage captivating the crowd. They ended their performance tonight with their Tik Tok hit ‘Overwhelmed.’ Even those not familiar with tonights R.A.T.S immediately caught on and added to tonights energy.
It was soon time for Oliver Tree to get started and I wasn’t prepared for what was to come. A couple people dressed fully in Olivers’ signature outfit and wig walked out and took their place at their instruments. The crowd yelled his name endlessly as he zoomed out on a scooter. He made his way up and down the stage until he tossed it off to the side. He certainly had everyones attention as he jumped into his first song ‘Forget It’. It was after this that the show really started. He started to interact with his band members, arguing with his drummer about god knows what. He made his way to the front of the stage when they flung themselves into a cartoonish brawl. Oliver was lifted into the air and tossed around. The drummer blundered back to his place as Oliver apologised to his crowd. The fight was unmistakably sketched but hilarious none the less. Oliver Tree demanded an apology from his drummer before the show could carry on. The crowd didn’t need any encouragement before they started chanting for him to say sorry. I didn’t realise quite what tonight would be. This is clearly more than a singer on a stage, it was going to be interesting and fun with way more to entertain tonights crowd.
Before his next song he claimed that it would be the last of the night. The crowd of course played along with boos coming from everyone. After the song, he started to make his way off stage. There was yells for one more song and Oliver dragged himself back in front of the audience. This carried on through the night as every single song was supposedly his last. Each and every time he would make his way back and shout to his crowd that he had places to be. “I’ve done so many songs for you” he would exclaim as he gave in to do another. There was certainly more to Oliver as he carried on with his comedic sketches in-between songs. “This is my hometown show” he would say in his clearly forced accent. He would make reference to Manchester as the place he grew up which would send the audience into a frenzy of screams.
After the recent online success of his next song ‘Miss You’ The crowd couldn’t stay still and not a single person didn’t sing back the lyrics. They followed Olivers’ example as he didn’t stop waving his arms through the air and jumping across the stage. It was during this song that he would keep stopping part way through. Each time he would speed the song up and start again. People kept shouting for it to go faster until he was singing the song comically sped up. He wasn’t short of shenanigans happening between each tune. Oliver slowly transitioned from his overly baggy jeans to a white tracksuit which then became cowboy attire more suited towards his latest music. This was brewing up excitement for the latest tunes and everyone knew that they were soon to come.
‘I’m Gone’ Was his last song of the night, despite him saying so after every other one. The crowd were as pumped up as when they stepped in and threw everything they had into this last burst of energy. His country voice shined through and his musical performance was just as entertaining as everything that had happened that night.
Oliver and his band took one last bow as he thanked the audience, leaving them with the message that anything is possible. They danced off stage with their arms around each other, I’m sure extremely happy with tonights reception. He had the audience fixated on him at every second and exceeded anything that people were expecting.
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FOLLOW ROYAL AND THE SERPENT
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
