James Arthur at Bristol Sounds 2024: Review and photos

He arrived on stage five minutes later than scheduled and his younger fans were already getting restless. Mass shouts of ‘we want James’ echoed around the harbourside, the warm air heavy with the smell of vinegary chips and raspberry and blackberry cider. Who needs Glastonbury when there’s a festival atmosphere like this in the heart of the city?

Under a cloudless blue sky on the hottest day of the year so far, James Arthur was clearly impressed with the location chosen for his biggest Bristol show. This was the third night of Bristol Sounds 2024, which has become an essential part of summers in the city.

As seagulls swooped above the Canons Marsh Amphitheatre, he told the huge crowd that he felt grateful to get the chance of playing in ‘a beautiful setting’. He was clearly excited by the Millennium Square ferris wheel, which he referred to several times during the 90-minute performance.

READ MORE: Drone display lights up Glastonbury opening night as Met Office delivers weather verdict

READ MORE: Bristol's best pub gardens to soak up the sunshine

It’s 12 years since the former foster care boy from Middlesbrough won The X Factor, but his career has lasted a lot longer than many stars from the TV music competition. Now 36 and the father of an 18-month-old daughter, the singer-songwriter hasn’t had an easy ride since becoming a household name and he has bravely opened up about his struggles with anxiety and depression since his overnight fame.

Arthur is back on the road to perform tracks from his fifth album, Bitter Sweet Love, which reached number one earlier in the year. And although his fans - mostly female - wanted to hear the old favourites, new songs like Blindside and New Generation were well received, with most of the audience singing along to every word.

From the outset, Arthur had the audience - largely teenage girls and their mums - eating out of his hand. On Comeback Kid, he told the audience to jump up and down and they did and they duly switched on their phone torches during Falling Like The Stars, thousands of twinkling lights lighting up the now semi-dark amphitheatre.

The mass singalongs and sea of mobile phones held aloft continued as Arthur treated fans to all the hits and crowdpleasers, including Impossible, Naked, Train Wreck and Lasting Lover. In fact, the mass singalongs were so loud that there were several times when the star of the show stopped singing and let the fans do the hard work.

But it was the final song, Say You Won’t Let Go, that most fans had paid to see, although for a split second it looked like it might not happen. After the first couple of notes, a deadpan Arthur stopped the song and pretended that somebody at the side of the stage had told him they had run out of time.

It was a decent joke that deserved the comedy ‘ba dum ching’ drum roll before Arthur and his band launched into the number one song that has amassed a staggering 1.6 billion views on YouTube. Every mobile phone was thrust into the air and for most of the song, Arthur simply let the fans sing as he watched in awe, hand on heart with appreciation.

With Busted performing tonight (Thurs) and a sell-out show from Placebo on Friday, this is proving a vintage Bristol Sounds already.