Live Review: Aiden Grimshaw (Nottingham Rescue Rooms)
 |
| Photo: Simon McMurdo |
Making his way to Nottingham for the second night of the tour, Aiden Grimshaw has fans everywhere. Circling the doors, in and about the venue and queueing patiently for a glimpse of the man himself later tonight. Despite only filling out half of the Rescue Rooms, his core fanbase have been enough to rocket him into the top 20 with his debut record ‘Misty Eye’ and they are all accounted for here, bursting through the doors the moment the clock ticks onto 7pm.
The first and only support act came in the form of Seye’s simple charm. Harnessing only a guitar and his undeniable vocal talents, he won the crowd over with ease and brought a welcome uplifting flavour to the stage. ‘White Noise’, in particular, was beautiful and effortlessly delivered. Seye’s charisma and skills will surely take him far.
Aiden made his way to the stage in a rather demure fashion, sporting nothing but black and opened the show with ‘Hold On’. A few lovely nuances that made the album so magical were hidden beneath the pounding bass, but it ironed out a few songs later, as did Aiden himself who, throughout the show, grew in confidence and strength; slightly withdrawn to begin with, he was unrecognisable as he beamed through the latter songs.
 |
| Photo: Darren Reynolds |
The standouts from the performance were the slower tunes that dominated the middle of the set – ‘Misty Eye’ sounding even more majestic on the live scene, ‘Be Myself’ showing Aiden’s sentimental side and the Sia cover, ‘Breathe Me’, going down a treat with the very vocal crowd. The final two tracks ‘Nothing At All’ and ‘Curtain Call’ were unforgettable and positioned perfectly at the peak of both the album and the live set – the latter providing the necessary hands-in-the-air moment and plenty of sing-a-long moments for the audience to savour. The setlist comprised of the album, in an almost chronological order, followed by an encore of the bonus track ‘Chokehold’ performed in a feel-good celebratory manner alongside Seye and his backing band.
Following his spectacular debut album, there were few ways in which Grimshaw could have gone wrong tonight but he played it very well and, considering this is his first solo tour, promises a bright future. The most comforting thing is that Aiden is at home in the smaller-capacity venues he’s been frequenting and it’s overwhelmingly evident in his huge grin as he leaves the stage that he’s enjoying the opportunity to play his music to anyone, let alone a few hundred folk; it’s all about the music for Aiden Grimshaw, just like it should be.
Photos: Darren Reynolds & Simon McMurdo
Words: Simon McMurdo