George Ezra played a show at the Stadthalle in Vienna. His support was Passenger.
Seen on: 22.2.2023

I saw George Ezra twice on his last tour, and with the new tour, it became yet another family event that I gladly joined. When I realized that Passenger would be his support, I was even happier. It’s been a while that I saw him live, but he is a great performer – and might have outdone Ezra with his much smaller production. In any case, it was a good show by both of them.

I saw George Ezra in the Stadthalle before, shortly before COVID hit. Returning to the location – Vienna’s biggest indoor venue for concerts (and probably just the biggest indoor venue, period) – when everybody is pretending that COVID is over was definitely weird, especially given that I saw the same artist again. I probably wouldn’t have gone if it hadn’t been a family outing, and rightly so because I was pretty much the only person wearing a mask. Anyhoo, it made me a little anxious during the concert, but it was still a good show that I could enjoy.

We arrived at our seats (allll the way in the back because damn, tickets are expensive) just as Passenger was starting, and I was again absolutely impressed by the way he relates to the audience. You can feel the busking experience, but it’s more than that – he knows how to play a crowd as much as a guitar. This also makes him a great opening act. Of course, he brough Let Her Go, but his song choice has a nice variation overall – and with I Hate he really has a banger of a song to sing along live. I wouldn’t have minded if his part of the show had been a little longer – and how often do we get to say that about opening acts?

George Ezra’s show was bombastic compared to Passenger’s, but also compared to his previous tour, it was definitely a size or two bigger. More people on stage, more thought put into the lighting (that was brilliant, I thought, warm and very suited to the music) and maybe even more professionalized than the last time already. And it’s to Ezra’s credit that it didn’t feel too choreographed and artificial.

His setlist was a good mix of all three albums, and he spoke a lot with the audience, explaining the stories behind some of the songs and just generally interacting which was really nice. His songs are well suited to be played live as they usually have a very lively rhythm and easy lyrics, but I also like the couple of calmer songs he also threw into the mix. I would have almost expected more songs from the new album, but I didn’t mind that a good part were older songs.

I don’t know if I’d rush to see him on the next tour, especially not with COVID and such a big venue, but I definitely had a good time that night – and know by now that I didn’t catch COVID there, so I don’t need to regret being there.

Summarizing: good shows.