Lewis Capaldi Roundhay Park review: ‘A moment to savour’
“You had me worried about this one. What were you playing at Leeds?” Lewis Capaldi playfully said to a sold-out Roundhay Park on Saturday, July 4th, referencing his tongue-in-cheek rant on The Graham Norton Show last autumn, in a typically self-deprecating manner. Whenever Capaldi spoke or soloed, self-deprecation was never too far away in Leeds, but through all the self-deprecation, the Scot was in superb form musically as he made his long-awaited return to Leeds.
The performance at Roundhay Park, which marked his first time performing in Leeds since taking a sabbatical from touring after suffering a mental breakdown in the summer of 2023. Yet despite touching on a serious topic in the aforementioned health issues, Capaldi never allowed the 30,000-strong audience to get too low, constantly finding ways to break the ice and make it comedic, asking the audience, "Who doesn’t love a menty b?” before suggesting “we are going to consummate our relationship… through song” and that “you’ll leave here depressed and ready for bed”.
It’s what makes Capaldi such a special artist. He can convey such strong vulnerability within his music, enough to make you tear up, but simultaneously spread such strong self-deprecating wit and warmth when chatting away.
This summer, Capaldi has performed at some of the UK & Ireland’s biggest outdoor venues and will continue in the coming weeks with back-to-back nights at BST Hyde Park and a long-awaited date at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park – a venue he was scheduled to perform at in 2023 before his sabbatical was announced – as well as a run of arena shows in North America. It’s serving as the continuation of the victory lap that began with his surprise return at Glastonbury last year and his successful ‘Survive’ EP.
However, there was no sign of letting up from Capaldi, who arrived on stage at approximately 9pm, with grey skies and light drizzle in the background, and opened the show to a rapturous reception as he kicked things off with ‘Hollywood’. The driving bass line and tight drumming from Capaldi’s backing band stood out on 'Grace' – a track with an incredibly cathartic feel in a live setting and one the Scot was happy to play conductor on as he basked in the audience's impressive singalong.
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‘Heavenly Kind of State of Mind’ was complemented by a rich keyboard line and punchy drumming. ‘Almost’ felt more muscular with a lively arrangement that included a bright acoustic guitar, a warm piano part, steady, driving drumming and a finger-picked bass line to complement Capaldi’s soaring vocals. ‘Bruises’ was stripped-back with just a pianist and Capaldi, who selflessly took a backseat to let the crowd sing to him during the rendition. A cover of Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’ was an unexpected surprise but joyous, as was ‘Love The Hell Out of You', which was driven by an urgent yet spacious piano line that stood out without overshadowing Capaldi’s impressive vocal line.
For Capaldi, the date at Roundhay Park came with a bit of history. On his previous visit to the Yorkshire greenspace, he supported Ed Sheeran in 2019. "You heard of him?” he asked the 30,000-strong crowd. Even in such a cavernous setting, Capaldi made Roundhay have an intimate and conversational feel about it. A rendition of ‘Pointless’, which saw Capaldi trade raw, power balladry into a big rock-y jam at the end with distorted guitars, Capaldi himself showcased his rock chops, shredding a solo at the end. “That gets longer every night that bit,” he joked.
‘Something in the Heavens’ was the lights-out moment with a driving piano line and Capaldi’s majestic vocals. ‘Before You Go’ was given a triple-guitar arrangement with two rhythm guitarists and an acoustic, providing a rich, amphitheatre-filling sound, and saw the audience belt the chorus back to Capaldi. The melancholic 'The Day That I Die’ and ‘Survive’ are, in essence, sibling tracks. The former is deeply heart-wrenching with a heavy piano-driven melody and proved to be a real tearjerker in Leeds, while Capaldi’s triumphant comeback in a single in the encore was delivered with real defiance and resilience as Capaldi crooned, "I've still got something to give,” words from an artist who is truly reinvigorated; it was a moment to savour.
As Capaldi prepared to close out the show with ‘Someone You Loved’, he promised to step away in the autumn to begin work on his third studio album. As the fireworks filled the skyline, it provided an exclamation point on a memorable evening, and in the form Capaldi is currently in, his next record will no doubt be a triumph.