Off the back of an incredible show at London’s famous Royal Albert Hall, everyone’s favourite indie wonder-kid Declan McKenna was finally set to finish the rescheduled dates of his ‘Zeros tour’. With Covid raining on his parade last year at the start of the tour, these rescheduled dates were long-awaited and boy did Declan deliver. The 23-year-old British born singer songwriter released his second studio album ‘Zeros’ in September of 2020 and instantly sold-out dates across the UK with his great reputation for putting on phenomenal live shows. We were lucky to catch Declan as he took over Manchester’s Albert Hall for the first of two sold-out nights in the northern capital. Support for the night came from Irish rising star cmat.
After an incredible performance from cmat the crowd were fired up and ready for Declan to take the stage. McKenna himself talks about the “roaring crowds in Manchester” on his song “The key to life on Earth” and is exactly what occurred as soon as he took to the stage. The crowd had the floor bouncing from the very start of the show right until the end, Declan kicked off the show with “Beautiful Faces” and even had a confetti cannon shoot out into the sold-out crowd for good measure. As the night continued McKenna would play fan favourites like “Make Me Your Queen” and “Isombard”, in an incredible moment Declan would even take it upon himself to run around the upper seating area of the historic venue which sent the crowd into a frenzy, it was a sight I’d certainly never seen before! The energy and vibe during this night was completely unmatched and you could just feel the love flowing through the hall. The night ended with encores of “Daniel, You’re Still a Child”, “Why Do You Feel So Down”, “Brazil” and “British Bombs”. It was the perfect way to end a perfect night and Declan McKenna’s reputation for great live shows is certainly one that he lives up to.
DECLAN MCKENNA
Photos + Review by Lewis Roberts | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!