Fryars and Rae Morris put on a vocally perfect performance to delight everyone at the sold-out Wedgewood Rooms date on their UK tour.
After recently releasing his second album, Power, Fryars took charge of a crowd full of anticipation with his very original sound. Fryars’ music combines a few different genres, mainly electro-pop, but has that commercial edge which made the crowd like his music even if being heard for the first time – of which most of it would’ve been. Lyrically his work centres around the emotion love – meaning another connection with the audience, with a few people even talking about their relatable experiences near me during the mid-show interval.
His one-liners between songs went down a treat, well to those near the front who could hear his relatively quiet speaking voice, adding another dimension to his performance and his connection to the audience. Latest single ‘Cool Like Me’ is probably his best bet at a chart-challenging track, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, with the right backing, it can rack up the YouTube and Spotify hits.
Starting with the opener ‘Skin’ on her debut album Unguarded, Rae Morris’s incredibly strong vocals stood out almost immediately – with many first-timers almost speechless such was the presence of the 22-year-old. The Blackpool-raised curly haired singer has such maturity and charisma – these enviable traits mean she’ll surely keep increasing in stature and popularity all the way to the top.
Her set was littered with successful singles, such as ‘Grow’ and ‘Closer’, but my favourite was ‘Love Again’ which she delivered brilliantly to the 500 strong crowd. After re-introducing the brilliant Fryars back to the stage, the duo played their joint-single ‘Cold’ in what was possibly the best performance of the night. Only slight downside was Rae’s voice was noticeably louder than Fryars during the performance – possibly a microphone issue, not a massive problem.
Constantly thanking the audience for letting her sing to them, Morris came across as a very rooted and down-to-earth singer – shown especially when, as she came out for her encore, she asked the audience “Are you sure this is okay?”. Finishing with arguably her most popular single ‘Under The Shadows’ was really well received and brought an end to a brilliant midweek gig.
I’d thoroughly recommend seeing Fryars and Rae Morris, with the former destined to receive more airtime and playing his own headline shows in the near future.
