Live Review: Teenage Cancer Trust: The Corrs – Royal Albert Hall – 28th March 2025

This year’s Teenage Cancer Trust series is now in fill rhythmic swing following much hyped about performances from the likes of The Who and James Arthur among those making up this year’s illustrious line-up. The series has been going strong for 25 years and as pointed out last night by Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust, Kate Collins, the charity has raised over £34 million for the Trust which was founded to support youth going through cancer diagnosis. In the lead up to The Corrs taking to the stage, we got to learn about the work the TCT do including watching a video of young cancer survivor named Keeslee who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2023. Following the video, Keeslee took to the stage to speak to the crown in person, delivering an emotional speech and confirming that he was recently given the all-clear following treatment; paying tribute to the care and support he was given by the foundation during and after his diagnosis. As everyone departed the stage, the lights dimmed and a pulsating beat began to reverberate and echo throughout the Royal Albert Hall and the band, one by one, took their places.

I’ve seen the band perform 8 times over the last 25 years. The first time seeing them was in New Zealand following the release on In Blue and at every show since then, including their most recent Hyde Park and London O2 Arena shows where the band performed the same set to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Talk on Corners, they have blown me away with their incredible musicianship and showmanship as they deliver hit after hit for their fans, and last night’s epic performance in the capital was no different.

As massive Corrs fans, we were delighted to be invited along by one of our very favourite PR teams to attend the Irish sibling quartets latest return to the equally iconic Royal Albert Hall. The venue has played host to several of the band’s shows over their career and as Andrea pointed out, their performance in the venue back in 1998 to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and was recorded for the BBC changed the entire trajectory of the collectives career so it was a very special moment to be within those very same walls for last night’s show.

The band have been enjoying a hugely successful comeback over the last year with sophomore album, Talk on Corners being taken back out on the road for its milestone birthday and last night’s set followed the same structure as those recent shows – the big singles like Only When I Sleep, What Can I Do and I Never Really Loved You Anyway sat confidently beside deep cuts and fan favourites from the iconic collection; each song being delivered in all their original glory including Queen of Hollywood and their whimsical cover of Jimi Hendrix Experience hit, Little Wing.

Bouncing around in a shiny black dress and barefoot, Andrea delivered impeccable vocals across the band’s hits that were dished up in spades to a very enthusiastic crowd – many who were seen being told off by security throughout the evening for trying to storm the stage and get closer to their idols. So Young, Give Me A Reason and power ballad, Runaway (one of the most beautiful and pristine ballads ever written, in my opinion) were all present during the night and all had the audience singing along and punching fists into the air to solute the outfit on stage.

The bands famous cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams proved one of the biggest numbers of the night with the whole venue up on their feet as soon as the distinctive melody began to play while Radio was a punchy, hook heavy reminder at the incredible songwriting talents of the band.

The Irishness (as a Andrea quirkily described it as) drenched the bands performances of traditional instrumentals like Lough Erin Shore (which bled seamlessly into debut album hit Forgiven Not Forgotten), Joy of Life and sent closer, Toss the Feathers – allowing their specialised instrumental talents take centre stage with Sharon moving like a mythical musical goddess in her long black dress with binding shiny red waist band as she delivered stunning work on her signature violin while Caroline took to a small drum set up between her sisters and receiving a thunderous applause from the audience. Andrea gave these pieces an additional nostalgic Corrs touch as she performed tin-whistle and brother Jim offered up a sturdy backbone as he moved between acoustic guitar and piano. A deafening reception to a moving performance of Ellis Island struck a chord with the crowd, as did their beautiful cover of My Lagan Love.

The crowd found it extremely difficult to remain seated at last night’s show – regardless of their age, every member of the crowd would get up and dance at every opportunity – and there were plenty of opportunities to do that, especially when one of the bands many signature hits, Breathless came out to play and had everyone in the sold out venue dancing along to the mammoth hit.

There wasn’t a single lull during the 90 minutes that The Corrs once again dominated the Royal Albert Hall stage. The band remain in absolute top form – in fact, I would go so far as to say that they sound better each time I see them play. Instrumental, they are at top tier level and Andrea’s vocals have been the strongest during this latest run of shows that I have personally heard in the 25 years I have had the privilege of seeing them play live. I for one certainly hope that that means they won’t be stopping at the end of these Talk on Corners celebrations and that a new album and tour are on the cards.

Setlist:
Only When I Sleep
Give Me a Reason
Lough Erin Shore
Forgiven, Not Forgotten
Summer Sunshine
What Can I Do
White Light
Little Wing (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover)
Joy of Life ([traditional] cover)
Ellis Island
My Lagan Love ([traditional] cover)
Radio
Queen of Hollywood
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)
I Never Loved You Anyway
So Young
Runaway

Encore:
Breathless
Toss the Feathers

Brendon Veevers

::: 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.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.