JAMES ARTHUR | LIVE REVIEW
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Sat 19 Oct
To write James Arthur off as just another product of the Simon Cowell assembly line is doing the 2012 X Factor winner a massive injustice. Where others have fallen by the wayside, Arthur’s career is going from strength to strength. The man’s work ethic is to be admired too, as he graces Cardiff with yet another appearance at the Motorpoint Arena, which I might add is packed to capacity once again.
In a confident move, Arthur strides onstage to a massive ovation launching into the title track of his new album You, which was released just yesterday, showing just how strong he feels the new material is. But the people who are here for the hits don’t have to wait very long as Sermon and Rewrite The Stars get the audience out of their seats, the latter getting a giggle from the crowd as he teases that Anne-Marie is in attendance tonight.
An interesting aspect of his set is his insistence on telling little stories about how the new songs came about, which most of the time should be left to sleeve notes, but the Middlesbrough-born singer has a way about him, that makes you want to know more. We get two more recent hits in succession, with Falling Like The Stars and Empty Space marking the halfway point in his set.
Arthur has found himself a nice little niche in the music industry, lying somewhere between classic pop idol and alternative underdog – and if proof of this was needed, then his latest collaboration with Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday shows just how much he has grown as an artist as Unconditionally is rolled out. Of course there’s the usual cheap effort in getting the Welsh crowd onside, which so many artists annoyingly insist on doing. Arthur’s effort was trying to wear a Welsh flag (and failing miserably) and telling us how well we sing (we know).
Nevertheless, he finishes up with a triple whammy of hits. Impossible precedes Rudimental’s Sun Comes Up, which of course Arthur guested on – and Say You Won’t Let Go sees a mass singalong breaks out, bringing an end to another successful night in Cardiff.
words CHRIS ANDREWS