Will Young, Symphony Hall, Birmingham - review

Now the country is divided by Brexit, back then it was whether Will or Gareth Gates should win the nation's favourite new TV show. Simpler times.

A lot has happened since. Unlike some boy band singers, Will Young was open about his sexuality, has spoken on LGBT+ issues and has also spoken of his struggle with PTSD, which led to him quitting Strictly Come Dancing. He has also remained one of the nation's most popular singers, each of his seven albums reaching either number one or two in the UK chart, including latest release Lexicon.

Lexicon didn't get much of a look in on Friday night. The singer and actor was happy to give the fans the hits, and got off to an uptempo start with the '60s flavoured Love Revolution. That was the beginning of a 110-minute set by Will and his five-piece band, plus two stunning backing singers, studded with such favourites as All Time Love, Changes, Friday's Child, Who Am I, Joy, Grace and Jealousy.

He also merged several songs into covers. Of course, there was his hit version of Light My Fire but he also weaved in his version of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill.

Humour

It is clear that 40-year-old Will has kept many of those fans from the Pop Idol days, an older audience that delighted in the encore of Leave Right Now and Evergreen, two of his earliest hit singles.

But it would not be a Will Young show without some impish, quirky humour. Midway through the gig a pair of step ladders were placed on the stage, a plank balanced between them became the perch for Will to lounge as he sang. You better believe he would top that. In the latter part of the show he came on dressed... as a ship. Imagine Bernie Clifton's ostrich and replace it with an ocean liner and you get the picture.

He later shed the ship but continued dressed as a ship's captain with hat, white shirt and shorts. It was camp and comic. Nautical but nice. When one fan yelled: "Why the ship?" He answered: "Why not?, it's my (expletive) show" and flashed a broad grin.

The silliness didn't detract, as his vocal performance was on the money. That distinctive voice is deceptively powerful and can still slip into a sweet falsetto.

Most of all one got the sense of an artist comfortable in their own skin, happy to give the fans what they want and to have fun while doing it.