Walking Into Loyle Carner’s Show a Stranger, Leaving a Little Bit In Love

galleryreview

3 Dec

I went into Loyle Carner’s Fortitude Music Hall show basically blind. I knew his name and that people loved him, but this was genuinely my first real listen. Going into a concert like that can be chaotic, but in this case it ended up being the best way to experience him.

The night opened with Navy Blue, who walked on stage with his brother Ali and instantly brought this grounded, super relaxed presence. The lighting stayed in one steady blue wash the entire time and the room itself felt like a Gen Z festival - slicked-back clean girl hairstyles, boys in jorts and flannels, that Melbourne-export energy that Brisbane somehow always adopts. Most of the crowd clearly didn’t know Navy Blue’s music either, so the start felt a bit hesitant, but by the sixth song the room had settled into this lowkey groove.

He pulled the crowd into an anti-colonial call-and-response, very much in line with who he is, trying twice to get everyone to yell “f**k Christopher Columbus.” When the chant finally landed, it actually loosened up the whole venue. And when someone in the crowd kept trying to interrupt him early in the set, he handled it with such calm, clear boundaries that it was hard not to be impressed. Overall, a super chilled opener that eased everyone in.

When Loyle Carner came on, the vibe shifted. His set opened with “All I Need”, and from the first few bars he was already bouncing off his bandmates, turning toward them, laughing with them, hyping them up between lines. He’s so interactive with his live band that it almost felt like we were watching friends rehearsing in someone’s living room… except, you know, with 3,000 people quietly losing their minds.

He also looked like he’d just wandered in from a casual hangout - relaxed fit, easy layers, nothing overly styled - which only added to that “small gathering” feeling. The whole set carried this comfort, like he let everyone in without needing to announce it.

By the third song, “Ain’t Nothing Changed,” the energy completely snapped into focus. The crowd jumped, yelled every line back at him, and the room suddenly felt twice as loud. People from the pit kept yelling “I love you!” and he kept replying with that gentle, unbothered “I love you too, bro,” which somehow made the whole thing sweeter.

As a photographer, I was actually obsessed with his lighting. After the opener’s constant blue wash, his set felt homey, warm golds, soft spotlights. Everything looked intentional and it elevated the entire performance. Even though I didn’t know most of the songs, it was easy to fall into the atmosphere because of how immersive the visuals and the band were.

He mentioned being really jet-lagged but still kept talking about how beautiful Brisbane was, and he sounded genuinely appreciative to be here. There was this soulful jazz moment early on where everything slowed down and the crowd finally clicked into place, and from then on everyone was fully warmed up.

The emotional centre of the show hit surprisingly hard for someone listening for the first time. The song he dedicated to nurses turned into this gorgeous stretch where his pianist played a long solo under a single spotlight - it felt like a small theatre performance inside a rap show. Then he moved into “Nobody Knows,” the song about his dad, and even without knowing the backstory it landed with this blunt, heavy honesty. And straight after that he introduced “Lyin,” the song he sings to his kids, emphasising how much he misses them every single day. The entire venue softened; people around me were quietly singing the last chorus, and his voice dropped into this warm, low tone that made the moment feel intimate despite the size of the room.

By the end, I understood why people love him. Even without knowing his music beforehand, the whole show made emotional sense, hype, softness, jazz, spoken word, gratitude. He performs like someone who’s actually talking to you, not at you. No theatrics, no ego, just a lot of heart.

For a first-time listener, it felt like the perfect introduction.