Review: Lawson return to Birmingham with an engaging performance
- Lawson returned to Birmingham’s O2 Academy2 off the back of supporting Robbie Williams in Australia
- Local band Full Shore won an online competition to open the show
Lawson had been running a competition for local bands to support them; the winners of this for Birmingham were a local band called Fullshore.
Fullshore
In theory this may seem like a good opportunity to been seen by a wider audience, however, they only performed three songs. Fullshore are an acoustic heavy band with soft lyrics and slow relaxing beats, making them a good fit for Lawson and their fans as they appeal with their slower tracks too. Fullshore also held the attention of the audience well, particular for a relatively unknown opener.
Pete Gardiner
Pete Gardiner, the second support was more upbeat and fun, which fits the other side of Lawson. He was an ideal act to get everyone in the mood, through his infectious beats which got a lot of the audience moving. Despite making an awkward speech about his band hating each other the whole act had an upbeat vibe, if not slightly strange, best summed up by the fact that this Scottish act closed with a cover of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.
Lawson
Throughout Lawson’s entire set the audience was engaged, screaming the lyrics and dancing along to every single song they played, something that isn’t as common as some would suspect. They opened with an energetic ‘Under The Sun’ and closed their encore with the equally energetic ‘Standing In The Dark’, which had the crowd going crazy. Older track ‘When She Was Mine’ also made an appearance; it’s nice to see their development and how they’ve grown as a band comparing this song to the others. Yet it is clear to see that they have a strong core fan base as the crowd sang along to the track with as much passion as every other song. ‘Mountains’ is their lead single off their new EP and receied a massive reception despite not being released as a single yet, predicting it to be a massive hit when it is.
Lawson
The band took a ‘relaxed’ break in the middle for acoustic songs ‘Taking Over Me’ and ‘Everywhere You Go’. Despite this being slower and more relaxing the crowd never dulled in their passion simply swapping their jumping around for swaying. These tracks also allowed them to show how strong their vocals are something a lot of bands of this genre can fall short on, but not this one.
Lawson also covered Jess Glynne’s ‘Hold My Hand’, a bold choice given how much of a hit it was, however they performed it well and it seemed to be a cover that their fans had asked for as they first played it in a radio in Australia.
Lawson
Overall the band were fantastic live, engaging well with their audience and Andy’s lead vocals were so strong they sounded almost exactly like their recorded songs. It was clear to see how much fun they were having, both on stage and just as a band, their interactions with each other highlighted their friendship and this was infectious, even if they were just joking about who was better at playing FIFA.
Photographs by Paul Reynolds
View the full set here.
