Daniel Bedingfield @ Symphony Hall – 22nd April 2024
Gaining momentum throughout the UK garage scene, Daniel Bedingfield rose to fame in 2002 with his hit album and single ‘Gotta Get Thru This’, elevating him to worldwide stardom instantly before retreating to LA to discover his passions for farming and ecology.
Earlier this year Bedingfield announced his long-awaited return to the musical realm with a run of three UK shows as well as support slots with Olly Murs lined up. Following the first show in Manchester, there was wide scale Twitter and news press reports about his arrogance, lack of well-known hits and miming vocals so the evening was tinged with a sense of apprehension.
From a visual point of view there really wasn’t much to see, with Daniel backed by a live drummer and guitarist and a simple black drape across the stage. For a show of this scale and price range you would expect to see some element of stage production but perhaps this will come as the singer reintroduces himself in the live arena later down the line.
From an audio point of view, when Bedingfield did sing his vocals were pitch perfect and he certainly hasn’t lost any of the vocal ability that he once had. However, at various points throughout the evening, he sang along to his own tracked vocals, and it was difficult to distinguish what he was performing live and what was pre-recorded.
Where previous reports had complained of arrogance and a lack of desire to sing older songs, whilst he did display a very strange self confidence such as reminding the audience on multiple occasions of songs he had wrote for other artists and how many number one singles he has had, it was sensed that he also was becoming more comfortable in performing again and moments of true showmanship and warmth were displayed.
Finally the setlist. For what was described as a 20th anniversary tour of his debut album, there was unfortunately very little of that actually performed. The majority of the hour-long set was made up of new tracks, all of which showcased his singing ability and varied musical stylings that the audience bought into and made for an enjoyable live experience. But for reference five songs into the set, Daniel had performed a cover of one of his sister’s (Natasha Bedingfield) songs but not yet one of his own from the album that he was supposedly touring in support of.
Later in the evening that did come however, whether in the form of a medley of Friday, James Dean and The Way or a performance of Never Gonna Leave Your Side in which he scaled the balcony of the Symphony Hall to hug various members of the audience.
By the end of the evening though, the double hitter of If You’re Not The One and Gotta Get Thru This gave the audience exactly what they wanted with people flooding the isles to dance and sing along to his two biggest hits.
Upon reflection was the show what the audience were expecting, one would argue most certainly not. But was it a performance by an artist finding his feet in an environment much different to the one he left, driven by new material and an adoring fanbase that wish to support him on whatever comes next.
Review: Dan Earl
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