Oh ha! Tom Odell is really dancing now! And I have no clue about how he can stay so serious. Though, wait, there was this grin after all. What did someone write on instagram: #myvalentinesdatewasbetterthanyours. Yes, can we please repeat this, Mr. Odell? After about 10 months Tom Odell returned with his “No Bad Days Tour” to Zurich. This time into the bigger X-Tra, but still completely sold out. And I am totally “magnetised”.
Support on that evening was the young British singer/songwriter Jade Bird. All alone with her guitare she played in front of the Zurich audience mainly very quite songs. She seemed very nervous and squirrely, kept babbling between her songs, so that even she suddendly kept wondering, if anyone understood her at all. She seemed a little like Birdy on the guitare, a friend said to me and wasn’t very convinced by her. That she indeed was named Bird, we only understood, when she said goodbye… I wasn’t very much into her either. But with the last 1-2 songs she seemed to somehow carry away the audience after all. Everyone was just waiting for Tom Odell and his band.
During the intro Tom and the band entered stage. They started like back at Mascotte with “Still getting used to being on my own” from the actual album “Wrong Crowd”. Right after the other a very energetic, rocky 1,5 hours show followed with all his hits as of course the songs of the new album. He kept jumping up from his piano, walking up and down the stage and down to his fans at the barrier. He kept holding hands with the girls in front row and didn’t fear the closeness at all. And still the audience back then at Mascotte seemed more euphoric and the atmosphere in the venue even better.
Since the last concert the setlist slightly changed, my favourite “Constellations” sadly dropped out so, but some other great songs made it on the setlist, that they hadn’t played back then. And since about 7 weeks Tom is already busy writing songs for another album. So he introduced the 3 weeks earlier written title “You’re gonna break my heart”. [Video here]. It was the sadest song of the evening, what suited Valentine’s day perfectly so, he was grinning. Actually there was a saxophone solo included in the song, he explained laughing, but he couldn’t afford any saxophonist for the tour. And if he was signing the solo, it didn’t sound like a saxophone at all. So he played the song in dimmed spotlights all alone at the piano. But even without solo his new work is beautiful and super soulful. A wonderful song premiere and great surprise. After the setlist of Luxembourg I had actually expected another new song to hear. If there will more song premieres follow on the tour?
Tom Odell, joker and entertainer. I wouldn’t really had been able to imagine this few years ago. He mostly used to make a rather reserved impression on me. With the years he gained obviously more self assurance and found out, how he esp. could make the hearts of his female fans beat even faster. “… „… They smile at me and call me their friends, but I’m just the entertainment, I’m just the entertainment. I sing, I dance, but boy I entertain you…” he was singing in “Eintertainment” and swinging his back with rather weird moves, dancing along the front of the stage. And he kept a straight face with it. I couldn’t restrain laughing, he kept his straight face. Until there was finally a wide grin after all. I knew it – you just can’t stay serious.
After his 2012 hit “Another Love” the band said goodbye though, but it didn’t end yet. Next to gentle, soulful ballades Tom was jumping up on his piano and rocking X-Tra along to Max Clilverd’s guitare solos. “Til I lost”, “Grow old with me” and the wonderful “Somehow” followed as an extensive encore, before he ended the concert with “magnetised” and the evening solemnly, promising to be back soon.
And Tom Odell will even be back very soon. Next to Jamie Cullum he’ll perform at the new Bernese music festival “Moments Of Music” this spring.
Official websites:
www.tomodell.com
www.jade-bird.com
