07 November 2020 (gig)
08 November 2020
One for the crew!
On Saturday night, Niall Horan – known to many as a member of the boy band One Direction – performed a virtual-live concert at the Royal Albert Hall for people across the globe. The purpose of this concert as Horan explained was to support members of the crew through ‘We Need Crew’ (an initiative to assist and support members of live performances crews) who he routinely referred to as the ‘engine room’ of live gigs across the world as they were not covered by the furlough scheme and were rendered jobless in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The concert began on a sombre note with a stripped-down, intimate performance of the track ‘Dear Patience’ off his second album but soon transitioned into an up-tempo rendition of the titular track of his second album ‘Heartbreak Weather’. Accompanied by his band, the performance was energetic, setting the tone for the remainder of the first half of his setlist. With a line of up-tempo songs, this would likely be the segment of the concert – if a live audience were to be present – that would bring the young audience on their feet to sing and dance along to the music as Horan continues with the upbeat track ‘Everywhere’ before switching gears to perform a track from his first album ‘On the Loose’. A track driven and noticeable by its signature riff, its astute and mature arrangement makes it a stand-out on both the setlist of this gig and Horan’s discography in general. He also takes advantage of the understated musicality of the song to show off his vocal prowess with some improv riffs and runs at the end.
Horan then took a break to speak to the virtual audience and flashback on the last eight months and what it’s meant for his music and live tour plans. The Covid-19 pandemic meant Horan had to cancel his tour to support his second album ‘Heartbreak Weather’ and described the virtual concert as an opportunity, albeit one more in keeping with the new normal, for his fans to enjoy a performance of these songs while reiterating its purpose – to help crew members. The second half of the concert began much like the first half, with a quieter, guitar driven performance of his first-ever solo single – ‘This Town’. The novelty of this song to both fans of his solo outing and One Direction as well as how personal the lyrics feel, would likely have meant every lyric would have been sung along (with phone flashlights in the air) to at a live gig with an audience.
Continuing the acoustic tone to the performance, Horan next performs the tracks ‘Still’ and the emotional ballad ‘Put Your Love on Me’ from his second album while marvelling at the scale of the audience watching him at home (the concert sold 125,000 tickets) and concedes to having had what he felt to be relatively nervous start due to the long break from live performances. He is then joined by guest singer Ashe (who flew in from the US for the performance) to perform their duet track ‘Moral of the Story’ which gained popularity for being in the Netflix film ‘P.S.: I Still Love You’. Horan then performed a number of tracks from his second album – his latest single ‘Black and White’ (also the most likely candidate for audience engagement if there was one), ‘Cross Your Mind’, ‘Small Talk’; which along the lines of ‘On the Loose’ is one of Horan’s edgier outings and ‘Nice To Meet Ya’; a Robin William-esque pop track. For the final two tracks, Horan plays the more popular tracks from his first album – the playful and rather catchy ‘Slow Hands’ and the melancholic ‘Flicker’ to close the gig.
The choice of song for the final track was a perfect way to end this concert, a charitable one held among trying, uncertain but rather certainly melancholic times. Before closing off, Horan introduced his band and gave another shout-out to the crew members who were both the backbone and cause for this performance, reiterating his belief that ‘we need crew’ for live gigs to even happen and happen as well as they do. The concert was packed with the fan-favourite and most popular tracks making it one for the fans – who missed out on seeing his performances live – and most certainly one for the crew!
