Olly Murs jumped out at us with all his British enthusiasm last night (6 August) at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.
He played the hits from his new album, ‘Never Been Better’, which is also the name of this tour, sprinkled some funk, plus old favourites and definitely made it a night for the 'sexy ladies'.
I find British people are generally quite charming, with their alluring accent and British cockiness; and we were not in short supply of this with Olly Murs. He had all the raging enthusiasm a classic Brit would bring, which made for a great, dancey night, which he definitely drew upon later on in the show.
Image © Daniel FosterThere were some slow bits where he encouraged us to sit down and enjoy, so you could tell that Olly really was here to perform and go beyond just singing his songs. Th slow bits were made all that more tender with Olly citing fond memories and heartfelt stories before singing songs ‘Dear Darling’ and ‘Let Me In’.
Sometimes word vomit can be a real killer, and Olly went a little bit past the shallow end when talking about the time Paul Weller approached him to write a song, and thanking god he [Paul] wasn’t gay, which may have been a bit confusing to some of his gay fans.
Click here for photos from the show.
He ramped it straight back up though with a definite funk period, in which all of us danced to some old hits we all knew like 'Play That Funky Music’, ‘Le Freak’, ‘Good Times’, ‘Oops Upside Your Head’ and the world famous ‘Uptown Funk’. All these songs were mixed together to create one, big SUPERFUNK!
It really was a great time to be dancing, and for fans young and old it really shook things up and got everyone moving, which is great to see at a concert.
The concert itself had this weird, sexual air to it, though, which didn’t seem fitting for the younger fans or the fans that had to bring their parents along. It almost seemed like mum might be having a steamier time than her daughter, as Olly was constantly preaching love to the “sexy Aussie girls” and the hip thrusts and gyrations were not left in short supply.
He was very cocky and flirtatious with the crowd, which is definitely fine (keep it coming), but might also be a bit a bit disorientating for the many young fans that attended.
Image © Daniel FosterAnja Nissen from 'The Voice' made a lovely appearance, singing a beautiful duet with Olly of the song ‘Up’. She did the song extreme justice, as hitting Demi Lovato’s soulful voice might have been complicated, but she pulled it off. It was nice to see Olly supporting real Aussie talent as well, and the crowd received it lovingly.
All in all it was definitely an entertaining night, with all the usual hiccups of a tweenage concert. The encore was there, which provided a 'concert feel' for the young ones and most importantly we all were dancing, even the parents.
Brisbane received a good, healthy dose of England and Olly Mur’s hearty and sincere love for Brisbane was very endearing and fresh.
Click here for photos from the show.
