Leona Lewis - Glassheart Tour - UK Leg

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  • GagaKeshaMinajGagaKeshaMinaj Posts: 524
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    I Am Going To See Her In Birmingham - Does She Have A Support Act? If So, Who???
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    I Am Going To See Her In Birmingham - Does She Have A Support Act? If So, Who???

    Yeah she does, it is Ryan Keen.
  • xfactorfan27xfactorfan27 Posts: 1,237
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    I attended Leona's concert in Edinburgh on Saturday 27th April. Thought I'd post a review in case anyone is interested in reading about the tour. I entered the Edinburgh Playhouse at around 19:00 when the doors opened and took my seat in the royal circle, where we sat as the (mostly middle-aged) crowd entered. Around an hour later Ryan Keen, the support act for the evening took to the stage.

    Keen was clearly a very talented guitar player and musician and his songs were just catchy enough that you didn't need to have heard them beforehand to enjoy them. He also had a great tone to his voice, and was pleasant to listen to. His good looks and muscular physique induced some "positive" heckling from the crowd, which Keen described as the most intense heckling he'd ever received. After a few of his own compositions, he covered Rihanna's 'Stay'. This cover did lack a little pizzaz and was certainly not a patch on the original- I think he could certainly have chosen a better song. Towards the end of his set my attention started to wain slightly and while I think he is talented I can't really ever see him hitting the big-time to be perfectly frank. Keen was clearly delighted to be playing at the venue and stated it was the biggest he had ever played at (clearly this will be surpassed by the Royal Albert Hall and likely other venues too). After his set he told the crowd he would wait by the bar so that any fans could meet him, get his autograph and if they wished purchase a CD. This was clearly a savvy move, as at the end of the night on my way out I heard him telling one young fan that all the CDs had sold out. I have to say the crowd responded very well to him and certainly it was one of the best receptions I have witnessed for a support act.

    Keen finished at approx 20:30 and then there was a half-hour interview before Leona herself graced the stage. The crowd cheered loudly as the concert began and Leona appeared singing a ballad version of Come Alive. After a couple of choruses and verses, a rousing beat kicked in and I will admit that at this point I got goosebumps as Leona's voice rung out over heavy bass. A fantastic start to the show.

    Leona spoke briefly to the crowd before introducing her next song- Fireflies. I adore Fireflies on record, but I have to say Leona's voice on this number sounded as though it may have needed a little more warming up, as the vocals sounded slightly strained in places, nevertheless an enjoyable rendition. She followed this with an acoustic version of 'A Moment Like This'. I wasn't sold on the arrangement here and would probably mark this as my least favourite performace of the evening.

    Next she took the pace up a notch with the hit song 'Collide', which was a fun, lively performance. Maintaining the upbeat songs, she launched into Forgive Me, which was reinvented as a girl group song with her two backing singers. This was a nice opportunity for the backing singers to shine, and again I would say that Leona's voice itself wasn't quite on top form here.

    'Better In Time' followed these tracks and was reinvented as a reggae track and mashed up with Rihanna's 'Man Down'. For me the reinvention did detract from the quite simply brilliant melody of Better In Time and as such I preferred the sections in which she was singing Man Down. I did think that the dance routine and staging worked well here though.

    After this Leona spoke about how she had written the next song with Ryan Tedder and her love for the next song. The song in question was of course 'Happy'. In my view this was where the concert really stepped up a notch. This really was a stripped back performance with Leona and her voice, and vocally this was absolutely flawless. The emotion and passion she delivered here gave me goosebumps. Leona then chose the upbeat, deluxe album track 'Sugar' to sing and this was a smart move. Once again the vocals were incredible, and certainly I (possibly along with other swathes of the audience) were wondering why the hell this had been relegated to the deluxe album and even why it had not been released as a single.

    Sugar was followed by 'I To You', a song that I had enjoyed but not taken particular notice of...until now. Leona took to a chair in the centre of the stage to belt this one out and the routine was a series of leg crosses and uncrosses. I probably haven't described it particular well, but let me tell you the whole performance (visually and vocally) was phenomenal. The dramatic and emotional 'Broken' followed and boy oh boy what a vocal. This was another performance after which I was left wondering why it had not been made a single.

    Leona returned to the stage playing the piano for Glassheart's lead single 'Trouble'. I'm not sure if Leona playing the piano detracted from her vocals, but either way I didn't feel as though this was the strongest performance of the night or that the vocal worked particularly well.

    Following 'Trouble' a cover of Bruno Mars' 'Locked Out of Heaven' was played. This cover was utterly stunning, vocally flawless and in my view could be a hit for Leona if she released it tomorrow. She brought an ethereal quality to the song and transformed it in comparison to the original version.

    Leona then spoke about how she wanted to dedicate the next song to her grandmother and that she also wanted to sing it for anyone in the crowd who had ever lost anybody. The song in question was 'Footprints In The Sand'- not my favourite I'll admit, but it has to be said there was an audible sound of pleasure from the crowd when they heard she would be singing this track. The track was performed beautifully and the song got a fantastic reception from the audience.

    'Footprints' ran seemlessly into 'First TIme Ever I Saw Your Face' and Leona can do no wrong when singing this song. Once again the crowd gave rapturous applause. These songs had generated a real atmosphere amongst the crowd and built up nicely to a rendition of Bleeding Love which had the crowd singing along. As she left the stage, there was screaming and crys of 'more' from the audience. Leona of course did indeed return, now sporting a glittery cape, and performed a fantastic rendition of 'Glassheart'. For the first time, certainly in the Royal Circle, the crowd got to their feet and bopped along to this track. It got a huge response and I literally do not understand how or why this was not released as a single. I'm utterly convinced it would have been a number one hit.

    Leona told the crowd that she of course could not leave the stage without singing her number one single 'Run'. The crowd swayed and sung along on her command and the atmosphere was electric in the venue.

    Overall I felt as though the acoustics and nature of the venue suited her far better than the arenas in which she had previously performed. We really were able to hear every note sung by her dazzling voice and I think it's testament to her vocal abilities that the vast majority of the songs were sung flawlessly. There had been a clear scaling back in production costs since the Labyrinth tour, but that's not to say the production was poor- there was a nice if slightly cheesy theme centred around 'love' and at various moments quotes were projected onto the curtains which loosely tied in with the songs she was about to sing. The production didn't matter anyway as I say, because all you really need to hear is that voice.

    I'm convinced that Leona could continue to sell out venues like this for years to come, purely on the strength of her voice and I hope upon hope that if she's not able to have another worldwide hit, that these ticket sales will be enough to sustain her record deal.

    Overall a thoroughly enjoyable evening and roll on the next Leona tour!
  • deedee1962deedee1962 Posts: 3,137
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    I attended Leona's concert in Edinburgh on Saturday 27th April. Thought I'd post a review in case anyone is interested in reading about the tour. I entered the Edinburgh Playhouse at around 19:00 when the doors opened and took my seat in the royal circle, where we sat as the (mostly middle-aged) crowd entered. Around an hour later Ryan Keen, the support act for the evening took to the stage.

    Keen was clearly a very talented guitar player and musician and his songs were just catchy enough that you didn't need to have heard them beforehand to enjoy them. He also had a great tone to his voice, and was pleasant to listen to. His good looks and muscular physique induced some "positive" heckling from the crowd, which Keen described as the most intense heckling he'd ever received. After a few of his own compositions, he covered Rihanna's 'Stay'. This cover did lack a little pizzaz and was certainly not a patch on the original- I think he could certainly have chosen a better song. Towards the end of his set my attention started to wain slightly and while I think he is talented I can't really ever see him hitting the big-time to be perfectly frank. Keen was clearly delighted to be playing at the venue and stated it was the biggest he had ever played at (clearly this will be surpassed by the Royal Albert Hall and likely other venues too). After his set he told the crowd he would wait by the bar so that any fans could meet him, get his autograph and if they wished purchase a CD. This was clearly a savvy move, as at the end of the night on my way out I heard him telling one young fan that all the CDs had sold out. I have to say the crowd responded very well to him and certainly it was one of the best receptions I have witnessed for a support act.

    Keen finished at approx 20:30 and then there was a half-hour interview before Leona herself graced the stage. The crowd cheered loudly as the concert began and Leona appeared singing a ballad version of Come Alive. After a couple of choruses and verses, a rousing beat kicked in and I will admit that at this point I got goosebumps as Leona's voice rung out over heavy bass. A fantastic start to the show.

    Leona spoke briefly to the crowd before introducing her next song- Fireflies. I adore Fireflies on record, but I have to say Leona's voice on this number sounded as though it may have needed a little more warming up, as the vocals sounded slightly strained in places, nevertheless an enjoyable rendition. She followed this with an acoustic version of 'A Moment Like This'. I wasn't sold on the arrangement here and would probably mark this as my least favourite performace of the evening.

    Next she took the pace up a notch with the hit song 'Collide', which was a fun, lively performance. Maintaining the upbeat songs, she launched into Forgive Me, which was reinvented as a girl group song with her two backing singers. This was a nice opportunity for the backing singers to shine, and again I would say that Leona's voice itself wasn't quite on top form here.

    'Better In Time' followed these tracks and was reinvented as a reggae track and mashed up with Rihanna's 'Man Down'. For me the reinvention did detract from the quite simply brilliant melody of Better In Time and as such I preferred the sections in which she was singing Man Down. I did think that the dance routine and staging worked well here though.

    After this Leona spoke about how she had written the next song with Ryan Tedder and her love for the next song. The song in question was of course 'Happy'. In my view this was where the concert really stepped up a notch. This really was a stripped back performance with Leona and her voice, and vocally this was absolutely flawless. The emotion and passion she delivered here gave me goosebumps. Leona then chose the upbeat, deluxe album track 'Sugar' to sing and this was a smart move. Once again the vocals were incredible, and certainly I (possibly along with other swathes of the audience) were wondering why the hell this had been relegated to the deluxe album and even why it had not been released as a single.

    Sugar was followed by 'I To You', a song that I had enjoyed but not taken particular notice of...until now. Leona took to a chair in the centre of the stage to belt this one out and the routine was a series of leg crosses and uncrosses. I probably haven't described it particular well, but let me tell you the whole performance (visually and vocally) was phenomenal. The dramatic and emotional 'Broken' followed and boy oh boy what a vocal. This was another performance after which I was left wondering why it had not been made a single.

    Leona returned to the stage playing the piano for Glassheart's lead single 'Trouble'. I'm not sure if Leona playing the piano detracted from her vocals, but either way I didn't feel as though this was the strongest performance of the night or that the vocal worked particularly well.

    Following 'Trouble' a cover of Bruno Mars' 'Locked Out of Heaven' was played. This cover was utterly stunning, vocally flawless and in my view could be a hit for Leona if she released it tomorrow. She brought an ethereal quality to the song and transformed it in comparison to the original version.

    Leona then spoke about how she wanted to dedicate the next song to her grandmother and that she also wanted to sing it for anyone in the crowd who had ever lost anybody. The song in question was 'Footprints In The Sand'- not my favourite I'll admit, but it has to be said there was an audible sound of pleasure from the crowd when they heard she would be singing this track. The track was performed beautifully and the song got a fantastic reception from the audience.

    'Footprints' ran seemlessly into 'First TIme Ever I Saw Your Face' and Leona can do no wrong when singing this song. Once again the crowd gave rapturous applause. These songs had generated a real atmosphere amongst the crowd and built up nicely to a rendition of Bleeding Love which had the crowd singing along. As she left the stage, there was screaming and crys of 'more' from the audience. Leona of course did indeed return, now sporting a glittery cape, and performed a fantastic rendition of 'Glassheart'. For the first time, certainly in the Royal Circle, the crowd got to their feet and bopped along to this track. It got a huge response and I literally do not understand how or why this was not released as a single. I'm utterly convinced it would have been a number one hit.

    Leona told the crowd that she of course could not leave the stage without singing her number one single 'Run'. The crowd swayed and sung along on her command and the atmosphere was electric in the venue.

    Overall I felt as though the acoustics and nature of the venue suited her far better than the arenas in which she had previously performed. We really were able to hear every note sung by her dazzling voice and I think it's testament to her vocal abilities that the vast majority of the songs were sung flawlessly. There had been a clear scaling back in production costs since the Labyrinth tour, but that's not to say the production was poor- there was a nice if slightly cheesy theme centred around 'love' and at various moments quotes were projected onto the curtains which loosely tied in with the songs she was about to sing. The production didn't matter anyway as I say, because all you really need to hear is that voice.

    I'm convinced that Leona could continue to sell out venues like this for years to come, purely on the strength of her voice and I hope upon hope that if she's not able to have another worldwide hit, that these ticket sales will be enough to sustain her record deal.

    Overall a thoroughly enjoyable evening and roll on the next Leona tour!



    Thank you for doing this review, I really enjoyed reading it and I can't wait for Friday when I will see her in Sheffield. :)
  • xfactorfan27xfactorfan27 Posts: 1,237
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    deedee1962 wrote: »
    Thank you for doing this review, I really enjoyed reading it and I can't wait for Friday when I will see her in Sheffield. :)

    Glad you enjoyed it :). Have a good time in Sheffield!!
  • soulmusicsoulmusic Posts: 2,396
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    Loved your review xfactorfan27 - a really good read, and it has whetted my appetite for RAH & Oxford. I thought you were very fair. I really hope Leona can continue with these sort of tours as well.
  • ariella52ariella52 Posts: 7,519
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    Thanks for your review xfactorfan27. Really thoughtful and interesting. I am looking forward to Newcastle on Wednesday and will compare notes. :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,579
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    I saw her in Edinburgh on Saturday and even though Im not a fan as such I did enjoy it. I cant fault her voice at all. Only bad point is I did not like the cover of Locked out of heaven (that's probably because its one of my fav songs) and I found better in time unintentionally hilarious due to the fact that Leona slutdropped at one bit and then whipped her hair back and forth to a regae version of the song. Comedy genius:D
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    I saw her in Edinburgh on Saturday and even though Im not a fan as such I did enjoy it. I cant fault her voice at all. Only bad point is I did not like the cover of Locked out of heaven (that's probably because its one of my fav songs) and I found better in time unintentionally hilarious due to the fact that Leona slutdropped at one bit and then whipped her hair back and forth to a regae version of the song. Comedy genius:D

    That makes me laugh too. :D Its the only performance I am not keen on judging solely from the videos.

    And great review xfactorfan27, really enjoyed reading it. :)
  • xfactorfan27xfactorfan27 Posts: 1,237
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    Thanks all :). I look forward to hearing your thoughts once you've seen the show and to seeing whether you agree with me!
  • STEPHENFOX20STEPHENFOX20 Posts: 206
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    Really enjoyed that review, thanks!! Look forward to reading more reviews on this page!! I'm seeing her in Manchester in 2 weeks and Liverpool the day after (14th & 15th) cannot wait
  • DemonicrodentDemonicrodent Posts: 520
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    I have never understood why anyone attending a concert would film the entire show by whatever means, usually phones. :rolleyes:

    Why not just soak it all in unless you were bored? Don't blame you as it is Leona :yawn:

    You were probably distracting others around you. :rolleyes:
    Anyway I think Leona should throw the towel in and retire from music. Her time is up now. Maye its time for dancing on ice or Celeb BB?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 457
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    I have never understood why anyone attending a concert would film the entire show by whatever means, usually phones. :rolleyes:

    Why not just soak it all in unless you were bored? Don't blame you as it is Leona :yawn:

    You were probably distracting others around you. :rolleyes:
    Anyway I think Leona should throw the towel in and retire from music. Her time is up now. Maye its time for dancing on ice or Celeb BB?

    I agree, you know its time to throw the towel in when thousands of people applaud you every night... :rolleyes: :confused:
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    I have never understood why anyone attending a concert would film the entire show by whatever means, usually phones. :rolleyes:

    Why not just soak it all in unless you were bored? Don't blame you as it is Leona :yawn:

    You were probably distracting others around you. :rolleyes:
    Anyway I think Leona should throw the towel in and retire from music. Her time is up now. Maye its time for dancing on ice or Celeb BB?

    Well seeing as she is selling thousands of tickets to her shows and is making alot of money, I doubt she will be retiring. :rolleyes:

    And people probably film because they want to have videos of the performances they attented. Its not like cameras are intrusive, they are held in one hand and you aim it at the stage as you watch, its no big deal.
  • gpkgpk Posts: 10,206
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    Dave0893 wrote: »
    Well seeing as she is selling thousands of tickets to her shows and is making alot of money, I doubt she will be retiring. :rolleyes:

    And people probably film because they want to have videos of the performances they attented. Its not like cameras are intrusive, they are held in one hand and you aim it at the stage as you watch, its no big deal.

    yeah, its like taking photos at a special occasion, i can see why people film these concerts using their phones. i appreciated the op`s efforts like i mentioned previously, as did other posters judging by other comments posted here.
  • DemonicrodentDemonicrodent Posts: 520
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    I agree, you know its time to throw the towel in when thousands of people applaud you every night... :rolleyes: :confused:

    Applauding out of politeness , also I doubt she has performed every single night ! Is the tour all year round? Busy girl!
    :rolleyes
  • Carly_ThompsonCarly_Thompson Posts: 2,345
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    Applauding out of politeness , also I doubt she has performed every single night ! Is the tour all year round? Busy girl!
    :rolleyes

    Why would they applaud out of politeness? :confused:
    Believe it or not, the audience actually paid money to see Leona, they weren't dragged there at gunpoint so I'm assuming if they applaud her it's because they genuinely enjoyed her performance.

    And why should she throw in the towel when she's still the third richest under 30 musician in the UK? Beating some singers that have been around a lot longer and have various business ventures. Not to mention the fact she still gets paid to sing gigs around the world.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 457
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    Applauding out of politeness , also I doubt she has performed every single night ! Is the tour all year round? Busy girl!
    :rolleyes

    People don't give standing ovations out of politeness, not even in Britain. And she's performing nearly every night in the UK leg of her tour, you know the thing this thread was set up to discuss? Goodbye.
  • ashtray88ashtray88 Posts: 1,531
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    Nice review xfactorfan27. I read your review and then I read this one from the Guardian--http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/28/leona-lewis-review and I feel the wrong person is working for a national newspaper. Such unbelievable bias. It's so annoying how the reviewers will criticise Leona for singing ballads and call her boring but then also criticise her when she dances and does upbeat stuff. Make up your damn mind about what you want from her or just shut up!!:mad:
  • paulbaxpaulbax Posts: 2,478
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    I have never understood why anyone attending a concert would film the entire show by whatever means, usually phones. :rolleyes:

    Why not just soak it all in unless you were bored? Don't blame you as it is Leona :yawn:

    You were probably distracting others around you. :rolleyes:
    Anyway I think Leona should throw the towel in and retire from music. Her time is up now. Maye its time for dancing on ice or Celeb BB?
    I paid 55 pound each for tickets, I think I can do whatever the hell when I'm there :rolleyes:. Not to mention the fact that EVERYONE around me was also filming, some with professional HD cameras that were much bigger than mine's so please put you're rolling eyes away thanks.
    Also I'm pretty tall so I was able to have the camera at my chest while watching the concert and only checking my phone to see that it was still recording occasionally. If I want to record a concert to be able to relieve Leona's epicness whenever I wan't then I will.
    Leona is selling out venues of thousands of fans nightly and is nowhere near retiring, however I think you should retire from being a judgemental tw*t to be completely honest.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2
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    Leona Lewis is amazing!!
  • Pandora 9Pandora 9 Posts: 2,350
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    Leona has lovely eyes ... what color are they ?
  • paulbaxpaulbax Posts: 2,478
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    Pandora 9 wrote: »
    Leona has lovely eyes ... what color are they ?
    Yes she does! They look like a mix of blue and hazel, they're very unique :)
    The reports about her outfits on DM are annoying me since I also though her body looked amazing!
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    It is great to go on twitter and read everyone's reactions who have just been to see her, so many tweets saying she was incredible etc, I actually haven't seen any negatives.
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