REVIEW: Jack Garratt at O2 Apollo, Manchester

THE ‘FAR Cry‘ and ‘Worry‘ singer took on Manchester Apollo on Friday (November 11) night with 3300 in attendance.

Jack Garratt has won the BBC Sound of 2016, Critics’ Choice at the BRIT awards and BBC’s Introducing Artist of The Year in 2015 and seeing him live will make you understand why…

Supporting Garratt was a band called Seramic.

They were a brilliant warm-up for Garratt with a rock/pop vibe to them; the lead singer sounded a fantastic mix of Ben Howard and Alex Clare.

Their music mainly consisted of keyboard and guitar (lots and lots of guitar) and some great harmonies too.

One minute it felt like you were watching a Gospel Choir, next thing you know there’s a rock-style guitar solo.

Their music definitely kept you on your toes. Listen to their song ’Found‘ here:

Mr Garratt came on around 9pm and was extremely humble about the turnout of 3300 people saying, “Holy s**t, I can’t believe there’s so many of you here!”

His opening was utterly phenomenal with the mixture of light displays and his beautiful beats; it took you to a completely different place.

Not only was his music euphoric, Garratt has a great stage presence too, making the concert 10 times more enjoyable.

On the stage he was simply just Jack – no backing singers, or drummers, or guitarists, just him surrounded by all his instruments.

For all those who thought men couldn’t multitask, Garratt will prove you wrong.

He would have one foot on the bass drum, one hand with a drumstick in, a guitar across his body, his other hand on the keyboard and his mouth to the microphone.

If that is not taking talent to new levels, then I don’t know what does.

If you like his music through earphones, you will most certainly love his music live.

Garratt played songs from his album ‘Phase‘, plus a couple of covers including the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Here is his cover of Justin Timberlake and Craig David:

He was constantly engaging with the audience and at one point there was a technical issue with his kit so whilst there was a spare minute or two of him not able to play his songs, he played a jingle on his keyboard to keep everyone entertained (no Justin Bieber style tantrums here).

If his music career didn’t take off like it has done, he could easily have gone into comedy – I have never heard people laugh so much at a music gig before.

Absolutely buzzing for @JackGarratt tonight in Manchester ??❤️ Ready to dance and sing all night long ?

— Leanne Farrell (@leannefarrell22) November 11, 2016