“Olly Olly Olly, Oi, Oi, Oi!” And there you have it - the union of X Factor runner up Olly Murs and the capital city of Wales, summed up in a lairy chant.
It’s a freezing evening in Cardiff and Olly is set to perform the first night of his tour at the Motorpoint Arena. The place is buzzing with obsessional teenage girls with their home-made banners and plastic glasses of coke, waiting excitedly for a dose of radio-friendly reggae-pop.
Before the show starts, music videos are played on the screens that flank the stage, videos of Robbie Williams, Adele, The Specials, etc. For some reason, black and white photographs of Olly have been superimposed onto these videos so it looks like Adele is passionately singing to a completely detached, motionless Olly Murs, which is comical and unsettling at the same time. Luckily we don’t have to bear it for long as the lights go down and a diminutive figure rises from the stage to the screams and applause of the audience, his fancy suit straining at his armpits and his snow-white shoes dazzling with the light of a thousand suns. As I politely pull up the hood of my parka to muffle the deafening screams, it strikes me what an unlikely sex symbol Olly Murs is. To me he’s always seemed like Matt Damon’s shorter, sweatier brother, but the amount of devotion in the crowd almost forces me to re-examine my perception of him.
Olly is flanked by a couple of ultra-cool dancers and a trio of brass instruments, and greets us with a toothy grin before launching into the first tune of the night, 'Anywhere Else'. It goes down well, everyone gets up and dances and sings along enthusiastically whilst Olly stands as close to the audience as he can without actually falling into the crowd, the diamond buttons on his jacket winking cheekily in the spotlights.
Aside from his pitch-perfect vocals, Olly Murs is a fantastic entertainer. He owns the stage completely and engages naturally with the crowd between and during songs. He has real confidence as a performer, and he has a compellingly mischievous aura; giving the impression that if you were to meet him at a nightclub he’d be a brilliant laugh despite the dodgy dance moves and Artful Dodger charm. He follows with the song 'Change Is Gonna Come', followed by a rowdy rendition of Queen’s 'We Will Rock You' and 'Somewhere Thinking Of Me', which naturally gets a great audience reception.
Olly takes a two minute break whilst he has a quick costume change, returning to the stage looking far more comfortable in his trademark pork-pie hat, jeans and a t-shirt. He indulges in some limbo-ing with his two dancers before singing 'This Song Is About You', 'I’m OK' and new song 'I Don’t Love You, Too', a sixties inspired melodic number. Olly then launches into a number of professionally executed covers, including 'It Must Be Love' and 'One Step Beyond' by Madness, and James Brown’s 'I Got You'. Olly’s dancing during 'One Step Beyond' was a real highlight, simply for the comedy aspect. Olly first came to our attention singing banal covers on The X Factor, so it’s good to hear him sing songs that he has a stylistic affinity with.
As the evening draws to a close, Olly finishes up with 'Just Smile', and 'Dance With Me Tonight' whilst the crowd sing along and dance with him, sporadically chanting 'Olly, Olly, Olly! - Oi, Oi, Oi...' and waving their banners.
It’s easy to forget that Mr Murs was ever an X Factor contestant, as his talent seems very original, natural and inventive. Unlike most reality TV signers, his music doesn’t sound at all manufactured. As a live performer he is extremely engaging and professional and together with his fantastic live band, backing singers and dancers, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
So it’s a thumbs up from this Cardiff gal. I might not fully understand his sex appeal, but he can sing a good James Brown. And his limbo isn't bad, either.
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Olly is flanked by a couple of ultra-cool dancers and a trio of brass instruments, and greets us with a toothy grin before launching into the first tune of the night, 'Anywhere Else'. It goes down well, everyone gets up and dances and sings along enthusiastically whilst Olly stands as close to the audience as he can without actually falling into the crowd, the diamond buttons on his jacket winking cheekily in the spotlights.
