Taking the stage in Birmingham for the second time this year, Bradley Simpson played his 7th gig of the Panic Years tour in the city on the 17th of May. Entering the gig meant weaving through mile-long lines of people queuing outside, fans rearing and ready to go. Left on the floor were blankets and empty food packets from dedicated fans queuing since the early morning, all of which by then were standing inside right up against the barricade.
Opening the gig was Nieve Ella, a close friend and collaborator of Bradley Simpson. Fans seemed to already be well aware as she entered the stage to a chorus of cheers, opening with ‘The Things We Say’ and ‘Car Park’. This was then followed by a cover of Lizzie McAlpine’s ‘Spring into Summer’, which was received very well by the crowd, and even had the photographers singing along. The set flew by, Nieve Ella telling the crowd about how the rest of her band plan to join her in London, and that she has “loved doing this tour”. Nearing the end of the set, there was even a bit of conversation with a fan in the crowd about a pack of Minion-related-sweets that they had somehow gotten into the venue, showcasing the personal connection Nieve already has made with Bradley Simpson’s fans during the tour. Apparently, according to Nieve, they’re “not nice” and “make your teeth fall out”.
As Simpson’s set was about to begin, fans across the barricade were bustling to see the setlist, which had been covered up by a towel by his crew. As soon as it was removed, fans were eagerly asking photographers in the pit to reveal which surprise song Bradley Simpson would play – and it was a shock and disappointment for some of them to hear he planned to play ‘505’ by Arctic Monkeys, which he had already previously played a few nights before.
Jumping into the first song, Bradley Simpson seemed to live on the edge of the stage, constantly interacting with fans and leaning to the very front of the crowd – it’s obvious that the relationship between Simpson and his fanbase is very tight-knit and close. During the second song, ‘Picasso’, Simpson removed his jacket which was met by screams of excitement from every single fan in the crowd, amusing to witness. Moving into ‘Cry at the Moon’, he spoke to the crowd about how excited he was to return to his hometown. The next few songs flew by like a blur, and before anyone knew it, Simpson was introducing Nieve Ella’s guitarist on stage to perform with him for ‘Favourite Band’, which had a new version with a feature from Nieve Ella recently released. The song began with the crowd cheering in excitement, and when it reached Nieve’s verse, Simpson introduced her to the stage to perform alongside him and her guitarist. The song following this, titled ‘Holy Grail’, brought things down to a much slower pace, fans holding their phones with flashlights in the air. The song came to its end, followed by a request from Simpson that had a lot of people astounded.
For ‘The Band’s Not Breaking Up’, Bradley Simpson requested that everyone in the crowd be completely silent. For this song, he would be entering the crowd and doing a completely acoustic performance, and, in order for it to work, everyone would need to be as quiet as possible so he would be audible. Fans obliged immediately, as Simpson weaved his way through the crowd through a path created right into the middle. Despite fans being silent just as requested, it was almost impossible to hear anything from the sides of the crowd, though it can be expected that the fans standing right around him in the middle were experiencing a very intimate performance. For the last verse, fans began to sing along, a chorus of voices entwined with one another, filling the room alongside Simpson’s right in the centre. If anything, this aspect of the set only further proves how close-knit the relationship between Simpson and his fans is, something incredible to see.
Making his way back to the stage, fans jumped back into action as the cover of ‘505’ by Arctic Monkeys began, any disappointment of a repeated song from earlier in the tour shows now nowhere to be seen. For the following song, ‘Always Like This’, Simpson asked the crowd to put their phones down for the last thirty seconds, commenting about how there were a lot of phones during the acoustic set in the crowd. The energy then stayed high as he played the title song from his new album ‘The Panic Years’ before leaving the stage.
The gap between the regular setlist and the encore seemed like nothing at all, and before anyone knew it Brad jumped back on stage to play ‘Daisies’, which had the crowd even more excited than they’d been all night. A few girls standing near the barricade even threw a bunch of small daisies at Simpson as the chorus hit. He then split the crowd into sections and had them sing different aspects of the song, with fans sitting on each other’s shoulders as the song neared its end.
Finally, to close the night, Simpson performed ‘Carpet Burn’. As he introduced the song, he changed his top on stage, once again receiving avid cheers from the crowd. He teased them for this response, telling them “Magic Mike’s down the road”, before kicking off the song. This final song of the night had fans singing along at the top of their voices, and was noticeably a fan favourite.
As the concert came to a close, fans cheered as Simpson said his goodbyes to the crowd. It was incredible to watch an artist with such a close relationship to his fans, shining through the entire performance.
