Photo + Words: Kate Warby


With dedicated fans shedding tears from the “happiest song of the set”, “Hollywood” which Capaldi has kicked off all of his summer headliners with. Simultaneously having the crowd bounce with energy and anticipation. His songs hold a slower, melancholy rhythm and lyricism you’d expect his sets to hold this same energy over the audience however the work both himself and his band have put in to create an upbeat environment for the fans to enjoy, adding harsher, heavier base and drums lines that still hold a resemblance to his often heavy topics. 

Lewis makes a consistent point to interact with the crowd having the flood lights that  illuminate his audience seamlessly incorporated into his lighting design. Allowing him to see the array of signs created just for him, and even cans flashing him in order to have an interaction with the talented singer, causing him to continuously burst out in laughter throughout even the saddest of his songs, safely saying the fan managed to brighten his spirits. 

It’s made evident that he doesn’t follow the normal script that so many singers create when playing an accumulation of shows, as he queries “where’s this castle then?” As he confronts that he has yet to see any in the past two nights he’s played at Powerdam Castle Festival. Allowing the fans to guide him off his centre pedestal to find it.  

As the set continues into some slower pace songs such as “bruises” and “pointless” the connection between all his fans begins to take centre stage. With Lewis’ stage presentation complimenting this, creating a soft atmosphere for dance with warm lighting, reflecting either these same warm colours onto the screens or a black and white filter over them. Allowing people in the crowd to slow down and enjoy each other’s company as well as reflecting upon his own comeback to the music industry. 

Lewis had a chance to show off his blissful vocals that he not only maintained but potentially improved upon throughout the duration of his break. Maybe going that one step further in showing off as these shows celebrated one year since his return at Glastonbury Festival as he takes a second to appreciate the time his fans allowed him to take a break and reexamine what he wanted out of his music and fining him the warmest welcome back into the scene, swelling out festival shows with his name on the bill nationwide. 

As he begins to close out the show fans chant “oh Lewis Capaldi” in a football like style encouraging him to come back out for an encore and as he enters the stage with “aww thank you, thanks my name” fans burst out in laughter before it quotes as the man’s begin his penultimate song, “survive”. Which he has is set rain around him at the climax of the song, continuing into his final song for the evening “Someone You Loved” leaving people in awe of the talent that is Lewis Capaldi and his written work, echoing the songs amongst during the outgoing