Tom Grennan never gives less than his all, and his show lit up Millennium Square in Leeds on Saturday.
Following a slightly delayed start, due to England scraping through to the Euro semi finals, we were finally treated first to the sublime Victor Ray, before Grennan kicked things off with a quick fire trio of songs – If Only, Sober and Royal Highness.
From the outset, Grennan is an inexhaustible bundle of energy, bouncing from one side of the stage to the other, connecting with as many of the capacity crowd as possible. Dressed all in black, including a knitted tank top, it’s not long before he’s worked up a real sweat in the humid Yorkshire evening. But it doesn’t slow him down. The crowd are singing back at him with the same kind of energy that had occupied this space 90 mins earlier during England’s penalty shootout. Grennan is a noted football fan and has spent the duration of the match watching from an elevated spot inside Millennium Square, graciously taking selfies with fans while the drama unfolded on the big screen.
This pretty much sums up Tom Grennan. He never seems to switch off. I saw him last year at the album launch for Ifs, Buts and Maybes, where he performed 2 x 60 minute sets. In between, he ran through the streets of Leeds, such is the energy and adrenaline that courses through him when he performs!
Similarly, he’s having a blast in Leeds again tonight. There’s a brief shower of rain midway through the show, but far from dampening the spirits, Grennan is sliding around the wet stage front like a kid at a wedding.
The voice is tremendous too, never more so than when he slows things down for Here, a soaring ballad that he uses to remind us all to hold on to those we love and to never take that love for granted. The crowd light up the Square with mobile phone torches. It’s a touching moment as you can see couples, friends and family alike taking those lyrics to heart.
From there to the end, it’s a progression of increasingly higher energy bangers that send the crowd home on a high. Found What I’ve Been Looking For, Not Over Yet, Lionheart all set things up for a final blast through Grennan’s biggest hits – ripe for this audience to sing at the top of their lungs.
Little Bit of Love rounds things off, but as we leave, you can hear people repeating the refrain from this song which tells you one thing: there’s nothing little about the love this crowd has for Tom Grennan.
