2024-04-05 16:25:19
Always good for a surprise: “Tom Odell” played a concert in the Gasometer that no one was expecting.
I had a stressful day and so it happened that I arrived at the gasometer just a few minutes before the concert started. I hadn’t really arrived yet and then the support band started.”bequest project“. Very beautiful, soulful and ballad-rich indie music from a British sibling reached me and I was impressed. I had the feeling I already knew the music, but that wasn’t the case at all. In any case, I felt a lot of familiarity and suspected there was a hit behind every song, but they hadn’t yet reached this level of catchiness. In return, the audience had once again reached a very high level of unnecessary chatter during a concert, which really annoyed me. It took me forever to find a place where I could listen to the music rather than the conversations.
As quickly as the music from the Wasia Project filled the room, the sounds disappeared again just as quickly. and then it was time to wait. Waiting for “Tom Odell”, who is always good for a surprise. The first surprise: the stage time was actually advanced several minutes and also communicated to visitors and when the moment came it was clear that this information was completely free. The concert started at the regular starting time – with lots of blue light, a pompous live band and a “tom odell“ on the piano, who occasionally raised his arm to add momentum to his key performance. He sang the songs “Loving You Will Be the Death of Me”, “Can’t Pretend” and “Magnitised” sitting at the piano, with only a few moments of entertainment. Twice he raised his arm in the air, once he stood up briefly and otherwise he simply sang fervently into the microphone. It wasn’t the most impressive start to the concert, but the songs were pretty good, at least!
Let’s get back to the topic of surprises. I was able to take a look at the set list before the concert started and was happy because the song “Long Way Down” was also planned for that evening. But, as Tom Odell is happy to surprise, he spontaneously removed the song from the set list. Instead, I tried to convince myself that “Best Day of My Life” was at least as good a song. At the same time I said goodbye to the idea that one could hope for favorite songs, Tom Odell is unpredictable in this respect (and many other points). or, to put it more positively: Tom Odell is always up for a surprise! What I heard that evening was that he tried to surrender to a structure, but at the same time he tailored his performance very much to his mood. Sometimes he said nice things to the audience, but sometimes he also seemed incredibly distant. He showed the most honest version of himself during an announcement after announcements: He said he didn’t know what to say, and if anyone had the hope that he would tell something interesting, then he would now disappoint them because he would just just tell something.
This time Tom Odell not only played the piano, but also the guitar. and sometimes he simply didn’t play an instrument at all, but walked up and down the stage and posed for the audience. So while I was still a little disappointed about not hearing the Long Way Down song, the vast majority of the crowd was completely into the action. During “Hold Me” many people sang along very well and loudly, Tom Odell commented with a “beautiful”. A little later he even got on the piano to end the song with a lot of entertainment. That was beautiful and celebratory! and then the no less solemn second part followed. Yes, he divided his set into two parts, and the second part was filled with even more hymns and even more feelings. At one point he wandered around the stage, singing “You’re the only reason” and pointing to his audience. that was nice. This time the idolization scene like Nick Cave was missing; Tom Odell kept his distance and refused to take half a bath in the crowd. But that wasn’t a bad thing, this time he relied more on his pompous live band and a nice lighting concept.
Speaking of lights: the set progressed further and further and at some point we reached the penultimate song. Tom Odell said that there was nothing nicer than telling a person that you would see their true colors. and then followed his cover version of the Cyndi Lauper hit “True Colors”. The stage was decorated with a colorful circle of lights, the piano intro began and I literally froze. I’ve probably never heard a more beautiful version of this song. And I’ve probably never seen such a beautiful performance from Tom Odell. I was really moved. Immediately afterwards came the last song and Odell’s best-known hit, namely “another love”. The audience turned into a sea of mobile phones singing along. And that was somehow nice but somehow not as impressive as the previous song “True Colors”. Apparently my highlight had already taken place and maybe that’s why “another love” couldn’t have as much of an effect on me – and that actually surprised me a bit. But I saw shining, happy eyes all around me and so I knew that everything was fine.
At the end, Tom Odell played a concert with a redesigned set list, surprised everyone with some announcements and behavior (a warm entertainer and at the same time an introverted, rigid piano player) and delivered some moments that will probably be remembered forever . For me personally, everything about “True Colors” was a memory for eternity, for everyone else it was probably the Tik Tok hit “Another Love” – and that’s a good thing! With Tom Odell you never know what you’re going to get, and maybe that’s why I enjoy attending his concerts so much. Until the next surprise, Tom!
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