It\u2019s 20 minutes in before we get our first Lewis Capaldi Moment. A young fan makes herself heard from within the packed crowd inside Christchurch\u2019s Wolfbrook Arena \u2014 it\u2019s her birthday. \u201cYoung\u201d isn\u2019t guesswork \u2014 she\u2019s turning 20, she tells Capaldi.<\/p>\n
\u201c20? It\u2019s only downhill from here,\u201d the Scottish singer quips, grasping the mic like a seasoned comic veteran. He looks up left and right to those in the seated sections, drolly sighing like a man much older than 29. \u201cWell, happy birthday,\u201d he hastens to say. \u201cIs anyone else celebrating a birthday?\u201d<\/p>\n
Capaldi \u2014 Glasgow-born, West Lothian-raised \u2014 is a fine pop star, a very good pop star, but what makes him a standout star in a crowded market is his everyman persona, though \u201cpersona\u201d would be doing him a huge disservice. There is nothing outer about this man \u2014 what you see is what you get, which is what has made him perhaps the biggest male singer-songwriter \u2014 sans a red-headed chap from England \u2013 of his generation.<\/p>\n
Because that aforementioned exchange with the young fan, you feel, would have played out differently \u2014 less friendly, less jovially \u2014 with almost any other pop star. A quick \u201chappy birthday\u201d shout, probably; feigned interest, almost certainly.<\/p>\n
Whether he\u2019s delighting unsuspecting American actors on The Graham Norton Show<\/em> (his clip reel<\/a> from the late-night institution is alluringly titled \u201cLewis Capaldi being pure chaos for five minutes\u201d) or chatting with fans at a show, Capaldi is always himself.<\/p>\n Credit: @angelodamiaophotography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Put it down to his Scottishness, put it down to whatever you want, but Capaldi is peerless in pop right now because there\u2019s such an endearing lack of pretension to what he does. He writes \u201cBruises\u201d, one of the most aching ballads of the last 10 years, but he never makes it sound like it was a preternatural songwriting gift. It\u2019s just what he does.<\/p>\n To only talk of Capaldi\u2019s personality would also do him a disservice because his voice is a thunderous instrument. He carries the most soporific of piano ballads with gusto and integrity, his vocals reaching to the outer regions of the Wolfbrook Arena. His voice trembles and emotes and belts and croons, depending on the song.<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian\/New Zealand music and globally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And when it briefly falters, as it does during \u201cBruises\u201d, the thousands-strong crowd is there to support him. \u201cThere must be something in the water \/ \u2018Cause everyday it\u2019s getting colder \/ And if only I could hold you \/ You\u2019d keep my head from going under,\u201d<\/em> they sing in perfect unison, the words layered with meaning. Who\u2019d be a pop star, you\u2019re often left thinking, but in a moment like that? Man, it must feel cathartic as all hell.<\/p>\n Catharsis powers the entirety of Capaldi\u2019s set. It\u2019s trite to describe a pop star\u2019s journey as being laden with emotion, but in Capaldi\u2019s case it rings true.<\/p>\n By now everyone knows what happened: at Glastonbury in 2023, he lost his voice during a tortured spell of Tourette syndrome, struggling to finish his set. The crowd picked him up, as they always do, helping him to finish \u201cSomeone You Loved\u201d in heartfelt support.<\/p>\n Capaldi stepped away from the live circuit, rightly focusing on his health, which is what made his Glastonbury comeback earlier this year (\u201cmy name is Lewis Capaldi and I\u2019m fucking back, baby,\u201d he shouted) and the first show of his New Zealand and Australian tour so special.<\/p>\n He was initially due to tour on these shores in 2023, before he took his break from music, and he apologises to the Christchurch crowd for making them wait so long. He\u2019s only returned stronger, though. \u201cNow I\u2019m in the best form of my life \u2014 I feel amazing,\u201d he tells everyone. \u201cThere was a time when I didn\u2019t think this would be possible\u2026. tonight is going as well as it possibly could.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to be here\u2026 I\u2019ve been dying to come back. And we\u2019re here, we\u2019re back, it feels good, we\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n You see it in his eyes: when the big screens zone in on Capaldi\u2019s face, it often catches him looking at the crowd, taking it all in, lost in a little disbelief and definitely a lot of gratitude.<\/p>\n The comeback story is just as much part of his everyman persona as anything else: in another age, even in a very recent decade, a pop star at his level would have struggled through their health issues, touring the world at great cost. But it\u2019s Capaldi\u2019s sincere openness and vulnerability that mark him as the sort of pop star this generation needs.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping it won\u2019t be too long before pop\u2019s everyman returns to New Zealand.<\/p>\n Ticket information for Lewis Capaldi\u2019s remaining New Zealand and Australia tour dates is available via secretsounds.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nLove Music?<\/h2>\n
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