Review of Bradley Simpson at Riverside Newcastle as Vamps singer goes solo with resounding success

Back in 2017, when I was just 16 years old, I went to see the Vamps with my sister Leia, who at the time was just eight.

Now, around seven and a half years later, she is 16, and I decided it would be a nice full circle moment to take her to see singer from the band Bradley Simpson, as he embarks on his first solo tour.

Bradley Simpson has strong North East connections, with almost his entire family growing up in the region. The singer has previously quipped that he wishes he had a Geordie accent rather than that of his native Birmingham.

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But before Bradley arrived on stage, it was time for the opening act, Annika Bennett, a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. Annika looks to fuse pop, country and indie music in her writing, and has just released her first album, titled Live From Mother Earth.

She opened her set with the song Sober Up, from her 2021 EP Only Emotion, before introducing a beautifully low-key rendition of the Abba classic Dancing Queen. After this, she played A Tree Falls, her first single from the album, as well as a new composition born out of last week's US election result, titled So tired of the things I do for men.

To finish, Annika played another recent single, titled Power, Sex, Dreams, which brought her exquisite set to an end. I wasn't familiar with Annika's music before last night, but I certainly am now, and I appreciated her explanations of the emotions behind each song, which I feel made the poignant lyrics resonate with me even more deeply.

Then, it was time for Bradley to take to the stage, which he did, getting the show off to a flying start with the first song of the night from his upcoming album, The Panic Years, which is being released in February. This track, titled Getting Clear, saw Bradley bring his high-energy from the start, something which he has been known for when performing with the Vamps.

This continued as he played more songs from the album, including Daisies, which has an upbeat, grooviness to it, and a similar sound to a band like Two Door Cinema Club. This was followed by Cry at the Moon, a more serious country rock song with a catchy electric guitar riff combined with an emotive vocal performance from Bradley himself.

After this, two further songs from The Panic Years followed, with both Not Us Anymore and Carpet Burn being slower, more emotional songs which showed the true range of Bradley's vocals, as he was able to go from raspy rock to soulful ballad at the drop of a hat.

Then, it was time for some fun, as Bradley performed his first of two covers, which just so happened to be HOT TO GO! by Chappell Roan, one of the biggest songs of the year. While the great rendition was being formed, if felt like the entire crowd was joining in with the well-known dance made famous on social media, and this was perfectly timed to reenergise the crowd after two lower-tempo tracks.

Then, Bradley played Holy Grail, an acoustic ballad and his newest single from the album, which was once again performed with a lot of emotion. This was followed by the pure rock song Favourite Band, which looks back to Bradley's time with the Vamps, which he assured fans he is still part of.

He ended the main part of the show with the song Always Like This, which starts quiet and builds up to a strong indie rock chorus, reminiscent of a Catfish and the Bottlemen track. Then, after saying goodnight, Bradley and his band left the stage, but in classic concert fashion, he wasn't done just yet.

When he returned, Bradley introduced his second cover of the night, a beautiful version of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, with drummer Elena Costa and guitarist James Atwood providing gorgeous harmonies. Then, Bradley finished with my favourite song from his upcoming album, Picasso, which is soulful and upbeat at the same time, and felt like the perfect way to close the show.

As he was leaving the stage, Bradley promised to come back to Newcastle, with a show already scheduled for May, after the release of The Panic Years. I'm glad that my sister and I got to see Bradley again, seven years on from the Vamps, and given the high-quality of his solo music so far, I'm looking forward to his next visit to the North East.