WORDS AND IMAGES BY NATHAN COLE
Tom Walker is kicking off his ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ Tour at Manchester Academy tonight. With a UK number 1 album in 2019 and his widely popular single ‘Serotonin’ last year, Tom has (seen) rapid growth in invested fans. Despite his immense popularity, this run of shows sees Tom playing some intimate venues with smaller crowds. Selling out immediately, tonight’s show is going to be home to a crowd full of faithful fans ready to witness their favourite artist put on a show.
An impressive queue has already formed outside the venue, everybody waiting to secure their spot as close to the stage as they can. They all flood inside and it packs out instantly with everyone eagerly waiting to get started.
The first to take the stage tonight is London singer/ songwriter Persia Holder. After gaining popularity on Tik Tok, she starts her first tour tonight and certainly seems ready to show a live audience what she’s made of. She takes her place on stage and sits alone at a piano. It was immediately apparent that she needed nothing else while her impressive vocals began to fill the venue to her first song’(…).’ The crowd watched with wonder taking in every second of her powerful performance.
Her cover of Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Forget Me’ was a touch of familiarity and tonight’s crowd sang along. Though it was an ambitious song to live up to, she didn’t disappoint in the slightest, delivering a spirited rendition.
SET LIST
1/ DON’T WANNA TAKE IT SLOW
2/ DIVE
3/ BAGGAGE
4/ PASSIONATE
5/ GORGET ME (LEWIS CAPALDI)
6/ MY HOUSE
Fans grew restless for Tom to finally make an appearance. He walked out to endless cheers and screams and before they could stop he jumped straight into his first song ‘Not Giving In.’ The instantly recognisable melody set everybody off. Hands were thrown in the air and every lyric was sung back. Tonight had started with a bang and was a clear sign of the night he had in store for his fans.
He carried on similarly and not a song tonight dropped the crowd’s atmosphere, each one sending fans into an outburst of excitement. He announced ‘Stigma’ as a touching tribute to a friend he had lost. He gave everything he had into the powerful lyrics, each as passionate as the last. The crowd lit up the venue with torches as some of them teared up still shouting back every word.
After Tom’s previous planned shows in Manchester were cancelled, tonight’s audience was special to watch. It had been a long time coming for most of the people watching, they had patiently waited to finally see Tom perform live in front of them again. He entertained the crowd further than his songs, interacting with everyone he could. He told stories of inherited pianos and times on tour which had eyes fixated on him the whole time.
‘Number 10’ certainly seemed to be a fan favourite. They loved every second of it and made it clear to Tom with their arms punching the sky. He thanked the crowd and made his way off stage.
Everyone chanted for Tom to come back and everyone knew they hadn’t heard what they’d all been waiting for. His band returned, closely followed by himself to perform one last song ‘Leave A Light On.’ The crowd went wild for this final tune and bounced around from start to finish. The powerful lyrics left everybody leaving tonight’s show buzzing with unmatched energy.
SET LISTS
1/ NOT GIVING IN
2/ MECHANICAL
3/ WAIT FOR YOU
4/ JUST YOU & I
5/ YOU’LL GET THERE IN THE END
6/ THE BEST IS YET TO COME
7/ GLASSHOUSE
8/ BETTER HALF OF ME
9/ FREAKING OUT
10/ ECHOS
11/ FLY AWAY WITH ME
12/ STIGMA
13/ ANGELS
14/ NUMBER 10
15/ LEAVE A LIGHT ON
FOLLOW TOM WALKER
FOLLOW PERSIA HOLDER
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 and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
