As part of her biggest ever headline tour, rising pop-rock star Holly Humberstone stopped off at Bristol’s O2 Academy to play the first show of this tour. First show of the tour and first show with a band, Holly made it clear to us she was nervous, but who can blame her?
She opened her set with The Walls Are Way Too Thin. With over 23 million streams on Spotify, this was an instant crowd pleaser, with the audience singing along and enjoying every second. Holly pointed the mic to the crowd to help her finish the song, and the atmosphere was truly something magical.
The lighting was also showing off Holly’s creative side, drenching the stage in dark tones of red and blue, this fitted the song styles about growing up, moving out and becoming an adult. The audience were captivated, with lots of people singing along, and those of us who didn’t know the songs all too well were soaking up the atmosphere and just happy to be there.
Holly switched up between guitars, keys and synths for her songs, were her band backing her up on drums, guitar and bass. You could tell she was not used to a full band on stage with her, and she kept looking back to make sure they hadn’t all abandoned her.
Throughout the night, we were treated to a wide range of Holly’s discography, from her first single, Deep End, released in 2020, dedicated to her sister who was, at the time, going through a difficult patch, all the way through to songs from her debut album, Can You Afford To Loose Me.
The band left the stage for a few songs, with just Holly left in the centre spotlight, creating a really intimate feeling. If you’ve ever been to the O2 Academy Bristol, you’ll know that it can be a very lifeless space with some artists, so Holly did a good job to create this feeling.
Falling Asleep At The Wheel was supposed to be the end to the main set, but the walk off was scrapped and they all stayed to finish the set off with Sleep Tight and Scarlett, which was met with thunderous applause and cheers from everyone in the crowd.
Even though Holly Humberstone is one of the new kids on the block, she has already made a firm name for herself and I think we can expect lots of big things to come from this 22 year old from a small village in the Midlands.
Review and photos by Ted Stargatt
TrueStyleMusic 