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REVIEW: George Ezra’s Newmarket Nights concert is a massive hit for a sold-out crowd of thousands
George Ezra headlining Newmarket Nights. PHOTO: Angela Smith Photography. - Credit: Archant
Having announced and sold-out his 2019 arena tour earlier the same day, George Ezra’s Newmarket Nights concert felt like an intimate warm-up, proving he’s ready to take on some of the country’s biggest venues.
Arriving onstage to no fanfare at all, the Hertford-born musician quickly gets on with playing songs from both of his albums - each introduced by a little story revealing how they came to be.
‘Cassy O’, a sing-along highlight from his debut album, comes early, immediately getting the crowd on his side. ‘Barcelona’ follows a tale of going to record his debut album in a random city and planning to stay at a random stranger’s house; “it wasn’t the best idea but it turned out to be the best month imaginable” he laughs.
Soon after, ‘Pretty Shining People’ gets the crowd - twenty-something couples hugging, smartly dressed older husbands and wives, and mums dancing with their daughters on the grandstand - singing the loving lyrics in unison.
It’s a real mix of Radio One, Two and Six listeners, George’s distinctive, bluesy voice clearly appeals to all ages and music tastes.
It’s the more upbeat numbers like the instantly recognisable chorus and introduction of ‘Paradise’, and a percussion-heavy carnivalesque rendition of ‘Blame It On Me’, that really get the crowd bouncing.
There’s even a little boy bopping around on his dad’s shoulders waving his arms in the air at one point.
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Telling a story about how he decided to give a European hostel a miss because he was going to stay with three Swedish girls who loved Eurovision leads into his first big hit ‘Budapest.
“Now, Newmarket, are you in the mood for one last party?” George teases before closing the show with his chart-topping feel-good summer anthem ‘Shotgun’, leaving the thousands smiling and singing the chorus on their way out of the racecourse.
Newmarket Nights concludes this weekend when The Vamps perform on Saturday August 25.
