ShareOlly Murs performing his Spring 2017 UK Tour at The Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Monday 13th March 2017
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Olly Murs was at The Motorpoint Arena last night for the first of two nights at the venue, and there wasn’t a seat to be had. Back to promote his latest album 24 HRS, it was a party atmosphere from the off.
Welcomed on stage by a screaming audience, he opened with the up tempo new song You Don’t Know Love. With huge screens on either side of him, which moved to reveal four very talented backing singers, and a tight band which included a brass section, Murs promised a night of fun and laughs and he did not disappoint.
Making full use of a walkway to get closer to his fans, he followed up with Wrapped Up and Unpredictable with no sign of a breather in sight.
With his easy affable manner, there really is nothing about Murs to dislike. With his pouting, crotch grabbing and bum wiggling, he is a natural entertainer. With his vocals perfectly on point, next up was the mellow Grow Up as he sat on the stage with his guitarist and encouraged a mass sing along. Showing his serious side he then slowed the tempo down with the effective ballad Flaws which saw him lost in the atmospheric dry ice.
Finding it difficult to keep still for long he delivered a set which included eight new songs which included Back Around and Deeper, but it was a stunning rendition of Heart Skips A Beat and an audience led performance of fans favourite, Dear Darlin’ which were the highlights.
Urging the audience to put their phones in their pockets for a “crazy ten minutes” Murs did a crowd walk-about for his medley of upbeat covers which included That’s The Way I Like It, Never Too Much, Jump Around and MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This, before he returned to the stage for his number one hit, Troublemaker and Dance With Me. With noisy pyrotechnics he was back on for the encore he was back for Kiss Me and a delightful performance of Years & Years which had the audience belting out the words.
With an audience screaming at his every move, those lucky enough to be in the golden circle were given a bird’s eye view. With an audience that ranged in age from the very young to the more mature, it was a worrying sight to see youngsters not wearing ear defenders, because after all, Murs and his band were loud, energetic and at times quite raucous.
Too soon the 90 minute set was over, but with Murs hammering home his single status, there was many a young lady going home with dreams of changing that.
