LANY: BIRMINGHAM, UK
Birmingham was the first stop of Lany’s return to the UK and what a warm welcome it was. Dropping their latest album, gg bb xx this year and Mama’s Boy back in 2020, fans were in for a treat when the countdown finally began.
Opening up the set was Irish-French singer Cian Ducrot. A mixture of emotional vocals, crowd interaction, storytelling and relatable lyrics, Cian was able to prepare the crowd for an emotional rollercoaster. It was songs like ‘Hurt This Bad” which Cian mentioned was about a traumatic event a friend had experienced that set an honest tone for his set and the overall atmosphere. Some other crowd favourites were ‘Crocodile’ and ‘Not Usually Like This’. The relatability factor of falling in love or just liking someone was what pretty much everyone cheered for after every song. With this as an occurring theme, the support of Cian made perfect sense before Lany took their position on stage.
It was the contagious energy of front man Paul Klein that got the crowd hyped up in just a matter of seconds. ‘Get Away’ from the band’s latest album was what kicked it all off. With this being the first date of the tour, Lany were definitely making this a night to remember, not just for the fans in Birmingham but also for their UK tour after so long. ‘Thick and Thin’ had everyone singing every word at the top of their lungs from beginning to end. It was as if they had been waiting for this moment their whole lives.
Jumping into the crowd was another level of fan interaction that fans of Lany can expect at pretty much every show. This didn’t just show how much the band meant to the fans but how much the fans meant to them. After the distance between artists and fans over the last year, it was refreshing to see this sort of exchange once again.
There was a great mixture of songs including such as ‘I Don’t Want To Love You Anymore’, ‘Super far’, ‘good guys’ and ‘heart won’t let me’. It felt like taking a trip down memory lane with Lany. A stripped back version of ‘I still talk to Jesus’ just gave the night that extra level of emotion as Paul took to the piano.
Very fitting was ‘you!’ that had the crowd emitting a similar reaction to when the band first kicked off the night. And of course bringing the first date of their tour to an end was ‘ILYSB’- definitely a fan favourite and a perfect way to tie everything together. From the fans, the atmosphere, interactions, stage setup and the song choices, being at a Lany show just proves how much live music has been missed and how it brings everyone together even for just one night.
