Will Young laid bare with his stripped back songs in intimate setting

I wrote recently about loving to see live performances. That view was refreshed and confirmed again with another trip to a great local venue, Cambridge Junction. This time it was to see Will Young on his Light It Up Live tour for his new album. He gets labeled at times as the first winner of Pop Idol in the UK, but that understates him totally. 

Before I get to the main act, a big mention of his support act, Maddox Jones from Northampton. He was getting ready to celebrate the release of his new and second album, Waiting For The World To Turn, on November 1. It’s never easy getting the crowd onside and involved, but Jones managed it well. 

He had a nice range and variety of songs and was ably backed by Dave Crawford on guitar (great slide playing on one song) and Amanda Guiliano with super backing vocals. Jones also introduced Livvy Lauren as the pair have a new single, “Another Sad Song," out now. It was well worth hearing, as was the rest of his set.

Will Young laid bare

Then the main act, Will Young and his keyboard player ambled very casually onstage, slightly early, and with no ceremony or announcement. They did realize and made fun of it all, setting a friendly, fun, and very relaxed tone for the show. 

It was billed as a stripped-back performance and Young in conversation. That was very much the case. You have to be confident in your abilities to sing solo with just keyboards to accompany your voice. Young’s voice was exposed throughout, especially with these pared-back, slowed-down songs and his singing style. But he was in great form, and you realized again what a great vocalist he was. 

Now, I have massively underplayed one part of the show by talking about his keyboard player. Christian Dinh Gulino is a major part of the performance. He is extremely accomplished and comes with an extensive CV as Musical Director to the likes of. Kylie Minogue and Bryan Ferry amongst others. His various playing styles complemented Young and the stripped-back songs perfectly. The small venue adding to the intimacy of the performance.

Will Young - stylish, jazzy and accomplished

The pair seemed to be having immense fun on stage and that was shared with us all. There was some chat in between songs with a couple of Q&A sessions. They were light and frothy rather than being deeply personal and soul-baring. We probably learned more about his two dogs than Young himself. But hey, it added to the event rather than detracted.

Young sang many of his top songs, joking at one point that he has to merge them into medleys to fit them into his set these days. He also included songs from the latest release, Light It Up. Somewhat fittingly, the set ended with a great version of “Leave Right Now,” his voice still strong, continuing the slightly jazzy and very stylish style of the performance and ending as it started, the pair walking casually off stage, having explained already that they’d incorporated their encore into the set.

The crowd approved from start to finish. Thank goodness small venues are able to put on this type of show. Please do support those near you.

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