Lights dimmed low, the opening lyrics ringing in the air, a close up of the one and only Niall Horan followed by the releasing of a breath I didn’t know I was holding…
Last night Niall Horan held a phenomenal live online gig at the Royal Albert Hall in London to raise money for the We Need Crew in the UK. Over 130,000 tickets were sold to people across the world in over 150 different countries and over £2.1 million was raised for We Need Crew; the night was a success for all involved! As many of you are aware, here at Our Muchness Guide, I (Niamh) am the bigger Niall Horan fan so I shall be taking the reins on this blog post. For me, it was the best gig of 2020; not because we finally got to see Nialler perform songs from his newest album, Heartbreak Weather, via a screen but because the entire gig was a celebration of the crew and crew members in general who create mesmerising gigs. Also, I would like to point out I knew I missed seeing Niall live but it wasn’t until the “Welcome” and the cheeky smile during the transition from ‘Dear Patience’ to ‘Heartbreak Weather’ until I really meant it and I stated it out loud! So without further ado, in celebration of We Need Crew and being able to attend a Niall Horan gig in 2020 (even if it was virtually), I thought I’d do a write up to mark the occasion.
Firstly, what exactly is We Need Crew? We Need Crew was set up to support the families of crew members who are receiving no support from the government! We Need Crew’s aim is to raise funds for their touring family in collaboration with #WeMakeEvents. They hope to receive support from artists, fans and the general public to raise awareness and to support their cause. You can donate to their cause by donating straight to their website, buying merchandise on their website and sharing their cause on social media.
My favourite moments of the gig are all down to the production within the show! Sure, I could go on and on in detail about Niall and his band smashing it but the moments that really made me gasp and ‘aww’ were down to the lighting. The crew truly used The Royal Albert Hall to their full advantage! One of my favourite lighting moments was during ‘Put A Little Love On Me’ (see picture above for reference). It was moments like this where I forgot I was sitting on an armchair in my living room and, for a few minutes, felt like I was there at the venue. My favourite lighting moment was during ‘Black & White.’ You know the crew have done something truly magical when you’re so totally engrossed in the light show and Niall’s singing that you forget to sing along to 3/4 of the song! The clever use of White and Blue lighting to start off with before pink was introduced got a big thumbs up from me! There is one other stand out moment that involves the crew but we are going to end this post with it as it is the visual moment that I will remember this gig for.
Overall, there were a number of moments that stood out during Niall’s performance. If I was to analyse every song, we’d be here until next week; so, instead, I am going to look at some stand out moments during the performance from him, his band and a very special guest!
The first thing I want to point out is how much stronger and confident Niall is sounding! Throughout the gig, songs were played from both of his albums and you may be saying to yourself, “Niamh of course he was sounding strong. The man hasn’t had a live gig in months!” That may be true but this is different! I like to think I have been to a fair few of Niall’s gigs in my time, be it with One Direction or during his solo career, and I have never seen him perform like he did last night! (And that is taking into consideration his nerves during the first few songs performing without an audience). I am here for a confident Nialler! Stand out strong vocal and confidence moments that made me write it down on my setlist notes were: ‘On The Loose’, ‘This Town’, ‘Small Talk’ and ‘Slow Hands’. With ‘This Town’ being the strongest I have ever heard it being performed live! We also need more dance moments from Niall. They are just entertaining and make you dance along with him! Dance highlights were ‘Small Talk’ and ‘Nice To Meet Ya’.
Secondly, instrumental moments, transitional moments and the arrangement changes from the studio versions. There was one stand out instrumental moment for me and this was the instrumental moment in ‘Slow Hands’. It really does tie the entire vibe of the song nicely together. As for the transitional moments, there were two that made me sit up straighter and think “Nicely played Nialler.” They were: the transition from ‘Dear Patience’ to ‘Heartbreak Weather’ and the transition from ‘Small Talk’ to ‘Nice To Meet Ya’. As for changes within arrangements, my notes become a blur for this one but I still remember, off the top of my head, the two songs that made me fall in love with them more because of last night’s performance. The first was ‘On The Loose’: I just remember thinking ‘Where did this come from?’ It could also have been down to the fact that I haven’t heard it live in over two years but I enjoyed how it was performed last night. The second was ‘Black & White’ solely for the violin moment near the end! I cannot lie, it made me say “Damn… Yes that works” outloud to a room full of my family! Lastly, I want to point out the whistle moment in ‘Still’. I was not expecting that but it added nicely to the arrangement of that song last night.
Thirdly, was the addition of a special guest with a very special performance. On Friday, Niall went live on Instagram to tell us all that Ashe would be joining him during the concert to perform with him! I was excited for this as I found Ashe’s music from Niall’s recommendation and from him featuring on her song ‘Moral Of The Story’. Ashe and Niall really didn’t disappoint during this performance. It was nice to hear the song get it’s first live outing and the pair seemed to have a lot of fun while performing it! Both of their voices compliment each other nicely when performing it on the studio version and live which I loved to hear. Ashe is a phenomenal artist in her own right and her voice is simply stunning! I would urge everyone to go listen to ‘Moral Of The Story’ if you haven’t already. The song was also strategically placed within the set list, being the seventh song out of fourteen to be performed. It was also nicely placed between ‘Put A Little Love On Me’ and ‘Black & White’ which made me feel like we were being told a story through the songs.
Lastly, the gig ended on an extremely emotional and clever note with ‘Flicker’. Whoever thought up the storytelling during this song deserves a clap on the back! For those of you who weren’t watching it or may need reminding, here is what happened: Niall’s band left the stage and we all thought the final song would be Niall sitting down on a stool, playing a guitar, singing us out with Flicker. Oh, how wrong were we! For the record, I would like to point out, I was probably not the only Niall Horan fan to break and tear up during this final song performance. Whoever thought up the clear visual story deserves a standing ovation. Throughout the concert, Niall talked about the importance of the crew, his and those scattered around the UK and the world. Without them the music industry wouldn’t be what it is. So, during ‘Flicker,’ as Niall sat performing the song, members of his crew worked around him to take down the stage and remove the instruments around him. I thought this was the most powerful visual representation for the audience watching, seeing just one aspect of the crew’s jobs!
As we battle through this pandemic, it is important to remember, like the song says, some of us are “In the dark, we’re barely hangin’ on”. We Need Crew and the gig that happened last night reminds us that collectively we are the “flicker of hope” to keep all aspects of the music industry from crumbling.
You can still donate to We Need Crew and buy Niall’s We Need Crew Merch via their website https://www.weneedcrew.co.uk/
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