I (Sort Of) Saw Louis Tomlinson Live, Here’s A Rundown Of The Night’s Events
Samantha Colleran, December 2020
I can proudly say that I’ve attended a solo Louis Tomlinson concert! Well, sort of. Similar to Liam and Niall, Louis is now the third member of One Direction to hop onto the livestream bandwagon, with the proceeds from ticket sales going to five causes including Crew Nation and Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, the latter of which Louis has donated to a number of times in the past! He sold over 160,000 tickets, making him the biggest selling solo male artist livestream artist and the third highest selling livestream event of this year, right behind popular acts BTS and Dua Lipa. (He did all of this as an unsigned artist with very little promotion, which is absolutely insane in the best way possible!)
It was clear that Louis was incredibly eager to get back out on stage. He tweeted a number of times prior to the show expressing his excitement, and a few short hours before the show he tweeted “If you have a speaker round the house plug it in, if you’re old enough get yourself a drink. This is going to be special!”. It was more than special.
He kicked off the show with a rock version of his first ever solo single, “Just Hold On” featuring EDM artist Steve Aoki, written to honor his late mother Johannah. Louis’ talent oozes out of him, his band began to play and he stepped out on the stage, knowing that he sounded damn good as he began singing the first line of the night, “Wish that you could build a time machine”. There were other emotional moments, including his ballad “Two Of Us”, also written to honor his mother. He looked up often while performing this song, which made viewers at home incredibly emotional. “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart” was another emotional moment of the show, this song always reminds me to power through tough times, and hearing it live again made my heart very happy.
Louis obviously had to honor his 1D roots, so he covered three songs including a rock version of “Drag Me Down”, “Little Black Dress” (which in the 1D days he always carried, and when he sings it solo it’s clear how his vocals made that song what it is), and “Through The Dark”! He also covered Kings of Leon’s song “Beautiful War”, and it was pure perfection. He allowed his band to truly shine through during the night. He hired a string band that had an incredible solo right before acoustic “Perfect Now”, and to back him up during the title track of his debut album, “Walls” which sounded stellar live. (I also screamed the lyric “For every question why/ You were my because” at my laptop screen and pointed at Louis as a rehearsal of how I’m going to do it when I see him in person). His touring band was one of the highlights of the night. Their instrumental break during “Fearless” was one of the best parts of the show, I almost hurt my neck from headbanging so hard! (Louis also later tweeted about how “fucking sick” his band is, and during “Fearless” he stepped in front of the band and faced them, giving them a “keep it coming” signal as they played on.)
Louis debuted a new song called “Copy Of A Copy Of a Copy”, which he tweeted the title of prior to the show. He revealed later on Twitter to fans that he’ll be keeping it on the setlist for tour, but he’s unsure of whether he actually wants to release it. “Young man, hush your crying, dry your tears away/ Nothing is original, there’s nothing left to say/ You won’t be the first or be the last to bleed”, the chorus kicks in powerfully. It’s a stunning song and I really hope that Louis does in fact decide to put it on an album, or at the very least release it as a standalone single, because it’s simply amazing and fans have quickly become attached to it.
My two personal favorite songs of the night were “Always You” and “Only The Brave”. They’re my two favorite songs off the album, and seeing them performed live for the first time since March was such an honor to see. The volume was cranked all the way up for “Always You”, the backing music sounding so fresh in person and Louis’ voice shining through as he belted out the “Should’ve never let you go, my baby” chorus with all his might. “Only The Brave” was a quieter moment of the show, just Louis and an acoustic guitar ringing through the silent venue.
The show closed with opening Walls track “Kill My Mind”, the Oasis inspired track that truly showed off Louis’ range of talent musically. It was an incredible way to close the show, it left on a high note and I was buzzing with adrenaline for a little while after the show. It was so incredible, and it was a pleasure and honor to be part of something so fantastic!
If you attended the show, let me know your thoughts in the comments! If not, you can make up for it by streaming Walls and letting me know your favorite track off the album!
SAM!! i loved this. i agree w u, always you and only the brave were one of my faves! i also loved dlibyh (just how the song flows is so nice), perfect now for the strings in the beginning and louis’ angelic voice of course!! and then, the fearless guitar solo and his amazing range, with his low notes in the verses and the higher ones later in the chorus.