Photo Credit: Diogo Lopes
Loyle Carner has been extremely busy since his latest album Hugo dropped at the end of October, travelling the world and selling out shows in Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Cologne and Amsterdam before moving on to the UK and Ireland. Since February the artist has been on the move all around the country and has blessed his fans in cities like Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield with excellent performances, heartfelt speeches and amazing renditions from an array of different special guests.
Last week he wrapped up his Hugo tour with an incredible sold out show at the OVO Wembley Arena, which was a wholesome experience. Starting with the simple yet very effective stage production and finishing with the short speeches he gave in between certain songs, Loyle Carner delivered a very special and intimate performance which was enjoyed by thousands of people.
The show was opened by supporting acts Wesley Joseph and Olivia Dean, who have accompanied Loyle on his tour since the very beginning, and carried on with the artist performing for an hour and a half with an array of different special guests.
Songs such as “Plastic”, “Nobody Knows”, and “Loose Ends” had the audience singing along and immersing themselves in the Hugo universe, while the renditions of “Stand Out”, “Blood”, and “Let It Go” saw Knucks, Athian Akec and Erick The Architect of Flatbush Zombie come out to surprise the fans who were extremely excited to see them.
Apart from the excellent performance and surprise guest moments, Loyle’s connection with the audience and the energy he emulated stood out on a very special level. His ability to create intimate moments, communicate and engage with his fans on a heart-to-heart level and project a deep, high spirited energy was unique and truly delivered a very personal, memorable experience.
The feeling in the room throughout the show was hard to describe, being able to make thousands of people feel happy and spiritually lifted whilst talking about serious issues and deep concerns in the world is a very peculiar skill and Loyle Carner not only masters it but makes it look like he invented it. He had thousands of people continuously smiling, gently swinging from one foot to another and singing for an hour and a half, and that might just be one reason why Loyle sold out shows around the world in the past few months as he not only delivers a show he delivers a whole experience.
The grand finale of the night was “Ottolenghi” with Jordan Rakei, a powerful performance that not only marked the end of the night but also the end of the Hugo world tour – a moment that was extremely special to Loyle as he felt overwhelmed for a second just before starting the song. Seeing him sat down on stage in front of thousands of people cheering him out was an incredible sight and a beautiful heartfelt moment which he truly deserved.
Before leaving Loyle and his band took a bow in front of the audience who made sure to show their love and then quickly recited a poem for them just before walking out. And like that, the Hugo tour was over and Loyle Carner was off to celebrate the end of a beautiful chapter in his career.