Yorkshire’s Fiona-Lee makes her class Cork debut with little interest in easing the crowd in gently. Powerful vocals and sharply drawn lyrics quickly pull focus towards the stage, with unreleased track “One Hell of a Tightrope” leaving the growing crowd transfixed.
As the tent continues to fill, Jamie McIntyre takes over with the confidence of an artist whose rise is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. “Over Galway Town” lands particularly well, its familiar pull carrying through the tent and leaving the room well and truly ready for the main event.
From the moment Tom Grennan bounds on stage, there is no room to question whether this man belongs there. He gracefully moves from one side to the other, feeding off the crowd and sending the tent into waves of intensifying screams. There is an easy instinct to the way he handles an audience; every gesture feels designed to pull the room closer.
Behind him, the live band sits in a soft glow, tight and assured without ever competing for attention. The focus remains entirely on Grennan, whose voice is built for this scale: gravelly and soulful enough to give his most polished pop songs a rougher, grungier edge. A beautiful rendition of “Something in the Water” offers a moment of stillness, while David Lofts joins him for a guest performance of “Holy”.
Grennan thrives most when the energy is pushed all the way up. “Let’s Go Home Together” and “Lionheart (Fearless)” keep the crowd locked in, the latter feeling purpose-built for a the scale of the Marquee. By this point, the Marquee is less a tent than one enormous, increasingly loud chorus.
Grennan does not simply command the stage; he seems physically incapable of leaving any part of it untouched. By the end, there is no doubt Tom Grennan created one of the most iconic gigs at LATM this year!
Tom Grennan photos:
Photos & words – Celeste Burdon @celesteburdonphotography