LIVE: Leon Bridges – Albert Hall, Manchester 22.09.15

After having had my heart broken by missing him at Latitude Festival in July, I was delighted to find out that Leon Bridges was taking a step further from his sold out Deaf Institute show and returning to Manchester to headline its most beautiful venue, The Albert Hall.

In hindsight, I’m kind of glad I missed him the first time around. I feel like seeing Bridges at a festival would take away from what he offers live. Arriving to the stage a little later than anticipated with his six piece band, the soul-revivalist transformed the venue in to a full on 1950’s throw back party; it was humbling to see a relatively new artist generate such an electric atmosphere in such a huge venue without the aid of a chart-topping record. Bridges may well be seen as merely an ode to the likes of Sam Cooke or James Brown by the morbid types that plague YouTube with their “seen it all before”-gross entitlement attitude, but the fact is that he’s incredible at what he does.

‘Smooth Salin” is an infectious, horn-driven jam that takes 1950s soul structures and throws them into 2015 alive and kicking, whilst the incredible ‘Better Man’ with its doo-wop backing vocals is a pleading self-analysis that most indie bands could learn a lot from. It sounds even better live too, with its complimentary organ line surging higher in the mix than on the record, which would well be a hint towards the direction that Bridges is taking his next record in. The unhatable American even made the most of ‘Happy Birthday’ falling into the public domain by serenading a fan with it. An incredible four song encore saw the night out, climaxing with perhaps my favourite Bridges song, ‘River’; no wondder he’s playing venues this big if those are the kinda melodies that he’s capable of, jeez.

Even if he did end the night by sending a tweet of appreciation to London’s Royal Albert Hall, Leon Bridges is not only music’s best dressed man, but he’s the best live act of his kind. Sam Cooke wishes he was Leon Bridges.

Marty Hill

Marty Hill

Marty Hill

Shoegaze enthusiast/aspiring music journalist/Faris Badwan wannabe