Source: Pexels, by Vishnu R Nair
Live from 02 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester. 23rd October 2022.
He’s back. And he’s back with a vengeance. After an eight-year-long hiatus, Paolo Nutini played two long awaited nights in Manchester’s 02 Victoria Warehouse.
Up first to open up the night was Irish band, NewDad. Fronted by the incredibly talented Julie Dawson, the crowd was treated to warm, uplifting vocals, which were complimented beautifully by the band’s musicians.
After their set, a mixture of excitement and anticipation grew throughout the sold-out venue, with chants of ‘Oh, Paolo Nutini’. Luckily though, fans of old and new didn’t have to wait too long for Paolo, who casually strolled on stage in faded jeans and with a pint of beer in his hand. And what a welcome he received! The outburst of applause and cheers put a massive smile on the 35-year-old singer’s face and it was apparent that he too was glad to be back on the live music circuit.
He launched straight into ‘Afterneath’, the first track off his fantastic new album, ‘Last Night In The Bittersweet’. From here on out, Nutini and his amazing band of top-class musicians had the crowd captivated and delivered a performance that rocked the rafters from start to finish.
Although songs from his new album dominated the set, Nutini managed to perfectly balance it by throwing in classic hits such as ‘Pencil Full of Lead’, ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’ and ‘New Shoes’.
Full of charisma and stage presence, Paolo Nutini is not only a fantastic performer, but a skilled songwriter. His signature gritty voice tinged with a Scottish accent proves him to be an extremely brilliant vocalist. His talent was evident in songs such as ‘Better Man’ , ‘Everywhere’ and the epic ‘Iron Sky’, during which Paolo jumped down into the audience to hug his fans and shake their hands.
After clearly putting his all into the performance tonight, it was soon drawing to an end. The audience loudly groaned when the last song was announced. But the disappointment soon disappeared when Paolo promised an encore. It was a promise he kept by returning to the stage without his band and delivering an awesome version of ‘Shine a Light’ and an acoustic version of ‘Writer’, which had everybody singing along.
Needless to say, the night was certainly memorable and left some fans emotional, with gasps of ‘Oh wow, wow’ being overheard several times.
Hopefully, Paolo won’t leave us waiting too long again, until the next time he comes into town.