Live Review: Olly Murs – 11th August 2015 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia
6 min read
Looking dapper in a black shirt and steel grey trousers, Olly Murs looked every bit the gentleman last night as he touched down in Sydney as part of his latest stretch of shows down under, performing a solid 90 minute set for fans down under at Newtown’s Enmore Theatre as part of the Australian leg of the entertainers Never Been Better tour.
Having won the hearts of millions around the world following his 6th season stint on the X Factor UK, the pop hit-maker has certainly carved himself quite a nice little career since appearing on the show. Coming runner up of the 6th season of the reality show has definitely worked in Murs’ favour with the last few years seeing the energetic Brit offer out 4 studio albums, release several number one singles, tour the world several times over and collaborate with some of the finest in the music industry including Demi Lovato, Flo Rida, Rizzle Kicks and Travie McCoy. He has also dueted with fellow pop icon Robbie Williams and supported the superstar on his Take the Crown Stadium Tour during 2013 as well as fellow X Factor stars One Direction on the US leg of the boys’ Up All Night Tour. Not too bad for what is still considered to be the early years of a pop career.
We last caught the UK popstar back at the end of 2013 when he bounced about the east coast of Australia on his Right Place Right Time tour, taking in the quaint Metro Theatre and delivering a memorable set with a full band and an even bigger personality. This time around Murs is back to promote his latest studio album, Never Been Better so a whole batch of new songs have been getting quite the work out with the musician jetting around the world to deliver the brand new classics to fans and the followers were certainly out last night as we arrived to a very packed (and very loud) mostly female crowd at the Enmore.
The set started off on the right note with one of the charismatic pop idols biggest career moments as Heart Skips A Beat kicked the night off, clearly overwhelming the female patrons in the crowd (and a few gents) who screamed back at the singer and recited the tracks catchy reggae-esque chorus as Olly danced exuberantly around the petite Enmore stage.
While the new album was the purpose of this new tour, tracks from the singers previous record, Right Place Right Time, seemed to warm up the crowd more so than any others within the set. Of them, the title track, performed back to back with the title track and current single from his latest record, gave the crowd an opportunity to move their hips while downtempo gems like Dear Darlin’ stole sentimental fragments of the show and an inclusion that stood out as the obvious highlight when it came to the ballads performed. Hand on Heart was an easy runner up in the ballad category though as it found a home early within the set and had the girls swooning.
An energetic encore performance of Troublemaker, one of the musicians now signature hits, was another focal point in the set and again, it was another number which allowed his fans to sing back, word for word in adoration for the Brit pop star.
One of the key features to going to see Murs in concert, apart from knowing that a solid set of hits is on the cards, is the banter the singer delivers between songs, engaging the crowd and creating a very intimate atmosphere that you very rarely get with some of the top artists in the industry. He did this last night between pretty much every song, interjecting with stories or anecdotes about the history of his songs or just general back and forth conversations with the crowd as a way to break the silence and get the audience involved on a much more in depth level. The singer also seemed a little more risqué than during previous shows that we have seen from Olly and threw as many sexualised groans and pelvic thrusts into his songs and his discussions as he could get away with. During his performance of Hey You Beautiful he even went as far as to use his mic stand to titillate the crowd only to accidently walk into it 2 minutes later.
Nearing the end of the set, an unlikely collaboration with British musician Paul Weller, otherwise known as “The Modfather”, found its footing with an acoustic performance of Let Me In offered you to the audience with Murs sat at the front of the stage to perform the track for his screaming aussie fan-base as his lead guitarist strapped on an acoustic guitar and gently played out the stripped back instrumentation to the number.
With the singers debut album hitting the Number 2 spot on the UK charts, Mur’s is enjoying a bit of a winning streak with Never Been Better providing the musician with his 4th album and 3rd consecutive UK number 1 album and last night he promised fans that new material was on the way which will hopefully mean a return down under to perform another incredible show like last nights.
Whether gyrating through 60’s scented hits like Dance With Me Tonight or dueting with The Voice Australia series 3 winner Anja Nissen on Up, the 90 minutes that Olly dominated the Enmore Theatre stage was pretty flawless from start to end and the musician’s constant positivity and energetic energy flowed over the venue and made the night a fun experience for every single individual in the crowd. The stage was decked out with instruments and a 6 piece backing band who offered Mur’s a sturdy backing to perform to throughout the weighty set of hits which turned out to be more of a greatest hits performance than anything else given the singers time at the top over these past few years and through the success of his four studio albums. It was easy to see what type of show the singer would deliver on a larger scale, something that I really felt would do the singer a lot more justice than a small stage like the Enmore. Hopefully the next time Olly decides to make a return visit with a new set of hits, an arena run will be on the cards because an arena is exactly where this superstar and all round entertainer belongs!
As Olly made mention of during his performance of the Right Place Right Time inclusion Hope You Got What You Came For – I can safely say that we certainly did! Hats off to you Olly!
Setlist:
Heart Skips a Beat
Did You Miss Me
Hey You Beautiful
Hand on Heart
Never Been Better
Right Place Right Time
Seasons
Up (with Anja Nissen)
Hope You Got What You Came For
Dance With Me Tonight
Dear Darlin’Let Me In
Play That Funky Music / Le Freak / Good Times / Oops Upside Your Head /Uptown Funk
Beautiful To Me
Wrapped Up / Treasure
Encore:
Troublemaker
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
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