Oliver Tree @ Manchester 02 Ritz – Manchester, U.K.

Now if you’re aware of the artist Oliver Tree you’ll understand that he isn’t most conventional artist in the world, and yet that is what makes him one of the best in the game right now. The singer, producer and comedian (more on that later) has an extremely unique sound to match his unique personality and the whole Oliver Tree experience is what draws in his success and fans around the world. His addictive music leaves a lasting taste on the listener and his whole persona is so recognisable that you just can’t help but love the guy. Oliver Tree was catapulted into fame after releasing hits like “When I’m down” “Life Goes on”, and his debut studio album ‘Ugly is beautiful’. He followed up this string of successful releases with his sophomore album ‘Cowboy Tears’ earlier this year and is currently enjoying the success of the great record. However, Oliver Tree recently teased to the media that he is contemplating retiring from the musical industry to focus on writing a series of screenplays. And with his latest UK and Europe tour being dubbed the ‘One last ride tour’ it almost seemingly hints towards an early ‘retirement’ for the 29-year-old. We were lucky to catch Oliver Tree as he made his way through this mega tour which included a special night at Manchester’s O2 Ritz venue. Support for the night came from Royal & The Serpent.

In classic Oliver Tree fashion, he arrived to great the packed-out Manchester crowd in the best way possible, rolling out onto the stage on his trusty scooter. Halloween may have been last week but Oliver Tree also came out donning a classic fake glasses and giant nose disguise and after performing his first song went on to explain that he was Oliver Tree’s brother and was filling in for the night. To the surprise of no one, it wasn’t. Oliver Tree then ripped off the mask and it send the crowd into a frenzy. This was just the start of the comedy for the night too, and as mentioned before the musician also has a high level of talent when it comes to stand-up comedy which massively plays into his live shows. This was without a doubt the funniest concert I have ever been too and still withheld the standards of a gig. Throughout the night and between songs Oliver Tree would battle his band mates, walk off stage early forgetting that he had more songs to play and indulge the crowd in insanely loud chants against London and the UK government. The crowd were loving every single minute of it and so was Oliver Tree. The California born artist also spent a lot of the night explaining how this Manchester, UK show was a hometown show and that he was Manchester born and bred, again he fooled no one but it was a hilarious ongoing joke throughout the night. As the night went on Oliver Tree would go on to change outfit multiple times and played a range of fan favourites like “Miss you”, “Alien Boy” and the aforementioned “Life goes on”. We really, really hope this isn’t the last tour for Oliver Tree as he has a longstanding future ahead of him and we are itching to see him perform a show again already!

OLIVER TREE

Photos + Review by Lewis Roberts | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!