Ally Nicholas opened the sold-out show with her exquisite blend of grunge and shoegaze. She has a very distinct rasp to her vocals which draws upon the emotional element of her lyrics, ensuring listeners feel every word. Switching between heavier rock songs and slower ballad style tracks, she serenaded the crowd with fan-favourites including ‘Fall Into’, ‘All Summer Long’ and ‘Seventeen’ – opting to ditch the guitar and interact with fans singing along when possible. The fans were previewed an unreleased single before ending her set with a large heavy-hitting instrumental that had the crowd swaying back and forth.
Jutes took to the stage to an immense cheer from the crowd and immediately jumped into ‘Left on Dilworth’. The setlist consisted of most of his latest album ‘Dilworth‘ as well as some throwback fan-favourites from ‘Sleepyhead‘ and many unreleased tracks. The crowd sang along to every word from the nu-metal verses to the dark-pop choruses whilst also making time to head bang and mosh during the heavy breakdowns. Jutes could be seen taking in the audience at many points during the show and you could tell this was his ‘I made it moment’ from the sheer awe upon his face. He urged fans to “keep smashing your head against that wall” and never give up on their dreams after telling us about how he almost quit music, while the fans chanted his name in unison.
The moments that stood out in particular for me were when the clean screams during ‘disassociate’ echoed throughout the venue, leaving everyone with chills and how beautifully silent and attentive the crowd was while Jutes sang ‘White Butterflies’, giving him their full attention. This song was written in response to his wife, Demi Lovato‘s song ‘Ghosts’. In contrast, the crowd were so unbelievably loud during the encore of ‘sleepyhead’, letting out every last bit of energy they had before the night was over.
You wouldn’t have been able to tell that this was the biggest headline crowd he had ever performed to. His stage presence and energy were unmatched while delivering insane vocals. It was the first time playing in Europe for both Jutes and Ally Nicholas and they certainly left their mark! We will hopefully welcome them back again soon with even more new music!