Music Review: Lewis Capaldi wows crowds at Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele

It would appear Capaldimania is a thing: while in the (long) queue, he walked past, coffee in hand, saying humble hellos to all and sundry prompting a few squeals and tears from a good few of the girls in attendance.

He played three short sets over the day and this was an unashamed plug for said album, but there was no cynicism is his patter, he comes across as a genuinely top bloke who’s aware that he’s cutting a decent wee furrow in a crowded market of angsty young guys singing about lost love and life’s many nonsenses.

And boy can he curse. “Thanks for coming along today, but please buy the f****** album”. You get the picture.

Pared back to just himself on occasional guitar and piano accompaniment, his five-song set started with Bruises and given his long shift today he was more than happy to let the crowd take over on vocals, plenty chat between, on to a splendid version of Grace and then to his 2018 number one break-out hit, Someone You Loved. Crowd helping out on vocals again.

The main part of the day for many was his meet-and-greet after each set, autographed pics and selfies on offer and this was undertaken in the private bar area off to the left of stage. “I’ll see any you upstairs in about three minutes,” he told us. Well, the queue to get up there was like the famous shot of Americans crowding on to that helicopter in Saigon.

He’s off on a lengthy tour to further promote the album, stopping off at the Edinburgh Summer Sessions in August and back again in December at the Usher Hall. Obviously they’re slightly larger endeavours but fittingly for someone who started off recording in his bedroom before being snapped up by Virgin and Capitol, he seems totally at home and at ease in front of this small and highly enthusiastic crowd.

Lewis Capaldi – La Belle Angele

Chris Mackinnon

5 out of 7 stars

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