Shot! George Ezra in Brighton
A crowd-pleasing evening filled with feelgood factor — the perfect antidote for the doom and gloom pervading Brexit Britain
I first saw George Ezra back in 2013. It was November and he was the second of Tom Odell’s two opening acts at the Guildhall in Southampton. I remember being surprised by his voice — you don’t expect a bass baritone from an otherwise unassuming twenty-year-old. That said, I didn’t think I was witnessing the nascence of a major pop star, although shortly afterwards he was a nominee for the BBC’s Sound of 2014.
The next time I saw him was in Shoreham at the inaugural Wild Life festival. It was the summer of 2015 and he was enjoying the success of his debut album Wanted On Voyage.
Fast forward to March 2019 and what a voyage it’s been for the now 25-year-old Ezra. His sophomore album Staying At Tamara’s was the second best-selling album of the previous year and its huge earworm single Shotgun gave him his first ever number one. He was even named Best British Male at the 2019 BRITs.
No surprise then that his Brighton Centre gig sold out in hours, indeed he could have played multiple nights at the venue, the smallest of his 13-date UK arena tour which included two sold-out shows at the country’s biggest indoor arena, London’s 02.
So how did this unassuming everyman become so successful? There’s no question he has a distinctive voice or a knack for co-writing (with Athlete’s Joel Pott) simple, hook-laden relatable pop songs. But perhaps more than than that, he’s found himself in the right place at the right time.
Whilst some have labelled him a “throwback to an earlier, more innocent pop era,” the truth is the last couple of years has witnessed the rise of the ‘bland’ male singer-songwriter. As veteran DJ Trevor Nelson recently put it: “We’re in the throes of non-obvious pop stars.” And it’s the likes of Ed Sheeran and George Ezra who are leading the way.
And yet, despite his undoubted success, I wasn’t really expecting much from this gig, I anticipated it being just more of the same.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. It proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening, way better than I’d anticipated. More than anything, what made it so good were the talented musicians Ezra has surrounded himself with, especially the three-piece brass section which added so much gusto to the songs — songs whose simple construction and catchy hooks invite an audience to sing and clap along at every opportunity. And this audience needed no invitation to joyfully add their voice to his. His latest single, the ebullient Pretty Shiny People and Listen To The Man being perfect examples of sing-along-a-George.
In contrast to the lightness of the tunes, the production aesthetic was noticeably darker. The lighting was predominantly hues of dark reds and blues, three large screens shaped like arched windows, provided the backdrop and several dimly lit oversized lampshades as well as an vintage record player, added to the intimate atmosphere.
What we didn’t get in Brighton, that other bigger venues on the tour did, were dozens of huge yellow lanterns hanging above the audience, something I only realised when seeing other pictures of the tour.
George, like all his backing musicians, wore regulation black and compared with the floppy hair he had when I last saw him, now it was shorter and neater. His image may have changed, but his voice remains his most distinguishing feature. It’s only between songs that you wonder where it comes from as his speaking voice is so very different.
Unfortunately, when he did speak he used exactly the same anecdotes to introduce his songs — and when I say ‘exactly’ I mean word for word verbatim. You only have to look on YouTube at any of his recent concerts and interviews to see what I mean. Similarly, the order in which the songs are played never appears to waiver from one show to another.
And whilst on the subject of his lack of spontaneity, it was a shame he rarely extended his songs beyond their recorded versions.
On those few occasions when he did, such as on the Elvis-like All My Love, Blame It On Me and Shotgun, the horns (and the audience vocals) made them feel even more uplifting.
But those small gripes aside, this was a memorable night, an upbeat gig full of the feelgood factor — the perfect antidote for all the doom and gloom pervading Brexit Britain.
Setlist: Don’t Matter Now | Get Away | Barcelona | Pretty Shining People | Listen To The Man | Saviour | Did You Hear The Rain? | Paradise | Song 6 | Hold My Girl | Leaving It Up To You | Sugarcoat | All My Love | Blame It On Me | Budapest || Cassy O’ | Shotgun
”To me, shooting live music is all about capturing the personality of the performer and the emotion of their performance. And then creating an iconic image.”
Behind the image: All these shots were taken handheld with available light only using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the 1.8 75mm lens. I was only able to shoot the first three songs from the pit. As always, my aim was to just get tight portraits of George, not wide shots of the entire production. I’m pretty pleased with the results. Shot in Brighton on 11 March 2019
