Sam Ryder, the man who almost won our first Eurovision song contest since Bucks Fizz in 1997 graced Stoke on Trent for the last tour date of a winter tour and it was outstanding!

First up were the supporting acts who both delivered their own unique sets with Kerr Mercer coming on with a thick Scottish accent whose ‘sad and slow’ songs were constantly referenced by him throughout the set.
“This song is still a sad song, like all the rest, but a little less sad” he addressed the crowd.
With eerily similar tones to Lewis Capaldi, Merr Kercer stood out with some great piano keyboard accompaniment to his strong vocals and was certainly a great warm-up act for this particular show diving into deeper emotions of love, loss and togetherness before Billy Lockett took to the stage.

12 years in and out of record deals until a recent opportunity on The Voice catapulted a song he had written himself to number one I thought Billy came across incredibly well to the audience. Endearing himself almost instantly with self-deprecating humour and a warm personality.
Speaking about the last date of the tour (this one) being his favourite he also discussed his personal Instagram page and how his goal was to get to 50,000 followers. I’ve left a link in the article here should you wish to get those followers boosted for him.
Wishing both Billy and Kerr the best of luck on their musical journey.

As the clock slowly ticked past 9 pm Sam Ryder entered the stage and suddenly the sad and slow songs that had certainly opened the show on an emotional tone were given this injection of positive and life affirmation.
The Victoria Hall in Stoke wasn’t sold out but the noise was pretty darn impressive and the wide range of people from all walks of life were present in the crowd. A very diverse and loving crowd who appreciated Kerr and Billy just as much as headline act Sam.
That’s something I haven’t seen at a gig before, the crowd were one of the best I’ve seen for that and the cheers and interaction for all the artists were rather impressive.

Sam belted out some iconic tunes but reminded the audience that it was indeed the last date of the tour and that his voice had taken a bit of a battering. It still didn’t stop him hitting the high notes on songs like ‘Mountain’ and the song that won everyone’s heart at Eurovision’ Space Man’. 
Someone in the crowd even mentioned ‘Fought and Lost’ and instead of singing the song he decided to belt out some of the higher notes of that entire song. The guy must rack up a shopping list bill for Strepsils alone!
As incredible live as he is on his albums he did confirm a new album was on the way with a single dropping late February / March and what a way to end the show than with some uplifting melodies that had the crowd interacting. I always feel self-conscious at gigs doing that sort of thing but Sam was constantly sending out positive energy to the crowd and it was infectious.

Personal situations in my life and everyone else in the room can get us down sometimes but music does bring us all together and some of the songs certainly hit personal notes with me as I’m currently dealing with a close family situation, but for one fleeting moment, it became a distant thought as I thoroughly enjoyed this incredible show from this incredible artist and throwing in ‘You’re Christmas To Me’ was certainly a wonderful festive treat for us all.
Stoke may not be the best-looking city but it has some of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet, if you’re good to us we’ll be good to you and Sam welcomed us with open arms and we gave that big smiling, sonic-pants wearing legend a big hug in return.
Sam, thanks for coming to Stoke!