Emeli Sandé - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool 16.11.2019

The last time I saw Emeli Sandé the support act was Sam Smith, so no pressure there then Ben Monteith! The dreadlocked Glaswegian belted out some terrific songs mainly about relationships and one in particular called 'Home' which he wrote for his wife. His foot stomping version of The Killers 'Mr Brightside' really got the audience engaged. This one man band is truly amazing and is well on his way from busking on the streets of Glasgow to the stardom he deserves.

After a short interval Sandé appears on stage and tells us that its' going to be an amazing night of songs and stories and launches straight into 'Heaven'. Next she sings the beautiful power ballad 'My Kind Of Love' and then it's straight into 'Beneath Your Beautiful' accompanied by one of her backing singers. After a moving version of the hit 'Hurts' she talks about how this album 'Real Life' is all about honesty and finding herself again after a low part in her life 5-6 yers ago. She then sings 'Sweet Architect' which almost sounds like a hymn.

Emeli speaks about how everything on the TV and radio at the moment seems to be about being divided and that needs healing. It doesn’t matter about your skin colour or where you come from she says we need to show compassion. We then get to hear some of the new songs from 'Real Life', 'Human' followed by an a cappella version of 'Extraordinary Being'. She gives us another classic 'Wonder 'and then it's another new song 'Same Old Feeling'.

Now seated at the piano to sing 'Clown' Emeli tells us that 10 years ago she found herself in London writing songs for other people and how after writing this song decided she wanted to be an artist pushing forward and that it wasn’t always easy.

We get to hear some more of the old favourites like 'Suitcase' and 'Higher'. As the evening comes to an end Emeli sings another hit 'Next To Me' which has the audience on their feet singing and dancing along. The show closed with 'You Are Not Alone' which she tells us is for everyone who is going through something themselves right now.

A great evening with a mix of old and new songs that I’m sure will become classic favourites of the future.

Emeli Sandé - https://www.facebook.com/emelisande/

Ben Monteith - https://www.facebook.com/benmonteithmusic/

Photos - Brent Jones

Review - Alison Jones