Matt Cardle - Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 7th March 2012

As the venue started to fill up to capacity, people of all ages were excited to see X factor winner Matt Cardle. The air of excitement that permeated the venue was palpable. Opening the show for Matt was Roxanne Emery performing her own songs. Every song seemed to go down well with the audience despite being not quite as well known as Matt's works. Half way through her set Roxanne cheekily asked everyone to buy her album as she would be signing them in the interview, and some audience members held up her album that they had already purchased in response. She proceeded to thank them and seemed genuinely excited and happy for all the support she was getting. Roxanne also performed one of her dad's favourite songs, 'Always on my mind' by Elvis Presley. Her interpretation seemed slower, and with something of a more acoustic sound. It went down a storm with the audience with some people even giving Roxanne a standing ovation. As her band came to the end of the set they said their thank-you's and left the stage.

The lights dropped and Matt's band took to the stage, set up with side tables next to each person with vintage looking lamps on each of them. This made the stage feel almost like a living room but looked fantastic! The band starting playing and Matt strolled on stage. He looked very casual in a checked shirt and jeans and looked just like the Matt Cardle everyone fell in love with on the X factor. Raising his hand to wave to the crowd he went straight into 'Stars and Lovers' from his debut album 'Letters'. This upbeat song had everyone clapping and singing along. Following this Matt said hello to the audience and introduced his band. The next song was his latest single 'Amazing'. This again had everyone singing along and enjoying every moment! Matt walked up and down the stage so that he could see everyone in the audience and make everyone feel like they were part of the show.

Working through the songs on his album every song got a great reception. Matt slowed the tempo down for a few songs and played his acoustic guitar. This made a change from the more upbeat songs and mixed the night up a bit. Within this section he played 'The first time ever I saw your face'. This is the song that Matt was famous for doing on X factor and you could tell it was very personal to him. He meant every word he sang. The crowd leapt out of their seats and gave him a round of applause and Matt looked like he was almost about to cry with just how emotionally charged the atmosphere was. The acoustic section ended with 'Beat of a breaking heart', and what an ending to this song it was! Starting out slow and calm during the instrument section of the song, and then suddenly the electric guitars kicked in and the song just completely changed. It was really 'rocky' and not something you would expect from Matt Cardle. However it worked and it was amazing. Matt then proceeded to say thank you to the crowd and got everyone on their feet for his 'final' song 'Starlight'.

The encore began with his X factor winner's song 'When we collide'. This had the audience singing every word back to him. It was a special moment for Matt to actually have that and have everyone with their arms up swaying along to the beat! Finishing on 'Run for your life' which was written by Gary Barlow, everyone was up dancing, clapping and singing along. The sheer look of excitement and happiness on Matt's face really show that he appreciates everything and anyone that has helped him to where he is today. He thanked the audience once again and then made his final exit.

Review by Grace