Photo Credit: Cuffe & Taylor/The Piece Hall
It’s been 15 years since Olly Murs took over the heart of the UK nation, after his phenomenal appearance on The X Factor at 25 years old. It’s almost hard to believe he didn’t win, judging by the reaction of the sold-out crowd at Piece Hall, Halifax. Although not releasing any new music since the drop of his album ‘Marry Me’ in 2022, Murs doesn’t struggle to immerse and captivate a crowd. With his comedic and charismatic personality, you find yourself absorbed by his performance.
To help warm up, Olly was joined by boyband Absnt Mind and Lemar, who didn’t fail to get the party at Piece Hall started, with a mix of original songs and covers such as ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry‘ and ‘24 K Magic.’ The crowd was roaring before he had even stepped on stage and they certainly didn’t disappoint when he did.
Opening the show with arguably his biggest hit of the last 15 Years, ‘Trouble Maker’, the sold-out crowd wasted no time breaking into a sea of cheers and screams amongst them, enough to be heard across the town, even husbands and fathers whose families had dragged them were ecstatic at the throwback, with the tempo continuing throughout the remainder of the show.
Already feeling the overwhelming sense of nostalgia, Murs followed ‘Trouble Maker’ with one of his personal favourites ‘Right Place Right Time’, with images and videos taking over the stage of his unforgettable memories across the last 15 years, if the crowd wasn’t partying around, there’s a sure chance some people would have shed a tear. As expected from an Olly Murs gig, the cheekiness of his personality took over the venue as middle aged women flaunted at his act joining in with his jokes, it was a crowd that you wouldn’t ever want to miss.
It was telling Murs wasn’t shy to the stage, utilising the space effortlessly, sprinting from left to right at any given opportunity, no one would believe he was doing back-to-back sold out shows every evening with the amount of energy up his sleeve.
The show progressed with endless back to back throwback hits covering albums such as ‘Right Place Right Time‘, his self-titled release and ‘Never Been Better‘, the sun started to set and the party vibe of the crowd just kept getting better, it’s almost hard to capture the in words as the diversity was something rare to see nowadays, mothers who were there since the X-Factor days, joined by their kids and husbands, generations of families scattered around – even the odd hen party dotted here and there.
To everyone’s pleasant surprise, he included a pop-80’s mashup into the setlist, ranging from ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Careless Whisper’ and finishing the mashup on a high with ‘I’m So Excited’, which ultimately described the crowd to a T. It was clear he loves his job, with the cheeky grin never leaving his face for the whole hour and a half set, he was having the time of his life upon that stage.
With every song, the crowd just proceeded to get louder, as the show was coming to an end he decided to end the night with his most popular upbeat tunes; ‘Dear Darlin’ took the crowd by storm as everyone everywhere jumped and danced around with drinks in their hand, making memories in the moment with friends and family which will never be forgotten. ‘Heart Skips A Beat’ and ‘Wrapped Up’ followed as lights flashed around the venue, it was hard not to have a good time, strangers dancing with strangers, singing together and chanting it as truly a night to remember.
Just before the encore Olly preformed his new unreleased song ‘Baby’, with some hardcore fans already reciting the lyrics back, whilst others swayed and listened to every word that was being sung within the upbeat, dance track. Finally for the party ender, the show was closed with ‘Dance With Me Tonight’, which had the entirety of Piece Hall booming and bouncing around, a perfect round off to such a fun night in Halifax.
When the lights came up the crowd kept going, dancing taking over the streets of Halifax and thousands of memories leaving with them. Olly’s passion for music and love for his fans is something so special and personal which ultimately makes his performances more magical, behind that cheeky charismatic presence is a 25-year-old Olly, with a passion for music and a dream and it’s more than clear through his performance that he made that dream a star struck reality.
Taped Magazine 