After a set of shows beginnings on the 9th September, including several sold out dates across the UK and Ireland, singer-songwriter Nick Mulvey concluded his ‘In Your Hands’ tour with a sold-out show in Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms on Sunday 14th October.
Mulvey opened the show with a heartfelt performance of “We Are Never Apart”, from his most recent album ‘Wake Up Now’. There was a great atmosphere as a result of the show being sold out, with people filling downstairs as well as the balcony. Although this meant that my view of the stage was limited until I was able to get closer later on in the show, my experience wasn’t lessened at all and Mulvey’s voice was just as mesmerising without being able to actually see him.
With each of his songs, Mulvey provided a back story, giving us a deeper understanding of his songs and an insight into his mind and from this, a heightened experience of the gig. Though there was no support band, this allowed for more focus on Nick himself, and his stories and chatting between songs allowed the audience to see his personality shine through, and really appreciate his music.
Nick engaged with the crowd throughout in a way I hadn’t experienced before, rather than trying to hype us up he chatted in a relaxed friendly way, which made it feel like we were all just chilling together. Another way he involved us was by using us to sing along so that he could harmonise with us, making me feel like a valued audience member and creative a collective feel within the crowd.
I had never seen Mulvey perform live before, and was interested to see how different the live performances were to the studio versions, putting a different spin on his songs in a simultaneously chilled out and energetic set, switching between guitars to create different sounds, with his acoustic sounding almost harp-like at times.
The set was fairly lengthy, allowing for a lot of material, both old and new, to be played, as well as extra time for his story telling. Mulvey shared some pretty interesting stories as well as a resonating quote that his friend had shared with him, shedding light on the current state of the world: ‘things in the world aren’t getting worse, they’re just getting more obvious’.
Mulvey’s penultimate song was “Fever To The Form”, encoring with “Mountain To Move” which he made last as long as possible, telling us he didn’t want the tour to end. My favourite song of the set was his especially beautiful live performance of “Unconditional”, taken from his most recent album. His effortlessly impressive vocals were goose-bump inducing and the song was made increasingly special as he told us the song was a love story about consciousness.
This was the last date of Mulvey’s tour, but if you ever get the chance to go and see him, definitely do, you will have a night of guaranteed chilled out positive vibes and experience a great live performer with a loveable personality.
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