Free Radio Hits Live at Arena Birmingham, 4th May 2019

Last month I spontaneously decided to buy tickets to Free Radio Hits Live while I was on holiday in the Lake District, all because Louis Tomlinson was announced for the line-up. So there I was on my dad’s iPad buying concert tickets, thank god the Airbnb had wifi! The show was in Birmingham and knowing Louis would be there, I just couldn’t not get tickets as it was so close to me and I hadn’t seen him perform since my last One Direction concert in 2015.

The good thing about buying the tickets so last minute was that I only had a few weeks to wait until the show, whereas I usually have to wait months. So last Saturday I rushed from work home to get changed and then straight back out within ten minutes to pick up my friend from the train station and then head to Birmingham. After we’d eaten dinner at Pizza Express (which was very good!) we headed over to the arena.

Once we got inside, our seats were actually better than I thought they would be. We were in the upper part of the block, but where we were sat there was just a barrier in front of us and no other seats, so nobody was sat in front of us – a short person’s dream! Although we were quite high up and far away from the stage, we still had a pretty good view, even though none of my photos do it justice!

The show started at 7pm, which is extremely early for a concert, but there were 9 artists so it was a long show. Even though we mostly came for Louis, there were so many great artists on the line-up. The first one up was Mabel, who I’d already seen previously when she supported Harry Styles on his tour last year. I thought it was a really good decision to have her on first because all her songs are really upbeat and got everyone in the mood straight away. She sang four songs, her most popular singles, and I loved her performance – it was full of energy, colourful and the dancers and choreography were amazing. Her set was a really fun way to start off the show and definitely got the crowd hyped up straight away.

Next up was Lewis Capaldi, who I actually have also seen before when he supported Bastille on their

tour back at the start of this year. I was really excited to see him again because I love his music and his voice live is just incredible. As you probably know from his appearances on social media, he is also a really funny person and kept us entertained between the four songs on his set list. Even though it’s probably the most overplayed song right now, hearing ‘Someone You Loved’ live in an arena was a magical experience. When I saw him perform it last, it was in a small venue, but in an arena it was even more amazing. Everyone got their torch lights out and as you probably know by now, that’s a moment that always melts my heart.

After Lewis, it was Zara Larsson’s turn to take the stage. I’ve always quite liked a lot of her songs but I’m a bit indifferent towards her if I’m honest. However, I thought her set was actually really good, she had four dancers who were all dressed in bright pink as well as her, and the choreography was really good. Her songs are also really upbeat and her vocals were on point so overall I really enjoyed her performance. I also managed to snap a few good photos of her on my camera, for some reason the ones of her were the best quality out of all of them!

After her was Tom Walker, I’d only heard two of his songs before but I really like them both and was excited to see him live. He sang four songs as well, including the two singles ‘Just You and I’, and ‘Leave a Light On’ which I really enjoyed and his vocals were incredible, he sounded exactly the same as he does on record. Following him was someone I’d never heard of before, HRVY, who to be honest was probably my least favourite performance of the night. No offence to him or anything, but his music was kind of Justin Bieber-like and that’s not really my kind of thing. After him was Ellie Goulding, who is also one of those people I’m kind of indifferent to. I like a few of her songs and to be fair her vocals were really impressive live, but I felt like she lacked a bit of energy in her performance and we thought that it seemed like she couldn’t really be bothered! I still enjoyed her set though.

Once the first six acts had performed, there was a twenty minute interval. Me and my friend were trying to work out where in the line-up Louis would come on, because they hadn’t announced it beforehand and we would literally find out who it was going to be when they played a little clip of the person on the screens about ten seconds before they walked out. This really kept the suspense going knowing that it could be Louis at any moment, but I had a theory that he was going to be on last.

At the end of the interval, one of the presenters came on to get us hyped up for the last three acts. Between a few of the acts, presenters from the radio station had been coming on and talking to us, and actually at one point a couple came up on stage and got engaged! It was so cute, and that’s the second concert I’ve been to where a couple have got engaged during it, how sweet (please take notes future husband if you’re out there)!

I really was expecting Louis to be the last on, so much so that when the video of him appeared on the screen as the first act after the interval we full on freaked out. My heart was racing and I couldn’t believe that he was about to walk out on stage and I was going to see him perform for the first time in almost three years! He opened with ‘Just Hold On’, his first single, and it was an absolutely amazing feeling finally getting to hear it live. His vocals were truly incredible and as I watched him on that stage I just felt this warmth inside me that I can’t even explain. When I see my favourite people live I always feel like I’m at home.

He then sang the One Direction song ‘Little Black Dress’, which to be honest has never been one of my favourite 1D songs, but of course I still screamed the words at the top of my lungs as he performed it amazingly. Between the songs he also made me an emotional mess by talking about how he has fond memories of Birmingham and performing there with the boys (cue my sobbing). Call me cringey but it really pulled at my heartstrings to hear him talk about that because I’d been to every one of those shows and they’re some of the best memories of my life, so to know that he still thinks fondly about them as well after all these years makes me so happy.

Finally he sang his most recent single ‘Two of Us’, which was the most emotional and special moment of the night for sure. The song was written about his mum who passed away at the end of 2016 and it really has taken on even more meaning since the tragic loss of his sister as well in March.

To be honest I never expected him to be back to performing so soon after, and to be there to support him at his first performance since just felt so special. The amount of love in the room for him was absolutely unreal, you could literally feel it radiating through the crowd and could really tell it meant so much to him. He kept smiling at the people at the front, putting his hands together as if thanking them or praying and looking up to the sky and an overwhelming sense of pride overcame me because I really just can’t believe how strong a person he really is. I can only imagine how much he has been through and how on earth he has dealt with it all, and still has a smile on his face and gets up on that stage and keeps it together for a heartfelt performance of such an emotional song is just beyond what I can comprehend. There was something extremely magical in the air during his performance, and I’m sure he could feel it and was radiating it back to us as well. The entire crowd was behind him, supporting him and sending him so much love and to have been a part of that is something I’ll never, ever forget.

How do you follow that? The next act up was The Vamps, and to be honest they did do a good job of following Louis’ perfection. They sang five songs which was more than anyone else, and they really got the crowd hyped up a lot. I really enjoyed their performance; they always have a lot of energy on stage and have everyone singing along and getting really involved. Finally the last artist on was James Arthur, which was pretty much a big disappointment (oops). This is why I really hoped that Louis would perform last so we could be left on a high but oh well. James Arthur’s vocals were pretty good to be fair, but I just don’t really like him that much and he wasn’t that involved with the crowd. What I did enjoy the most during his performance was watching a group of little kids hold hands in a massive circle and dance around at the back of the standing area. That was super cute and made my heart all warm and fuzzy so I guess I’ll give him that.

Overall I had an absolutely amazing night, and no prizes for guessing that the highlight was definitely Louis. It was just so incredible to see him live again after such a long time, and to finally see him perform solo for the first time especially given the circumstances recently and how special the performance was. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a multiple-act concert like this and I did really enjoy it, however I’ll always prefer going to the concert of one artist.

Have you ever been to a concert with multiple acts like Free Radio Hits Live? Which do you prefer? Let me know your thoughts on this blog post and any ideas for different types of posts in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!

As always thank you so much for reading, x