HRVY // Concert Review

Hey guys, I’m back again with another Concert Review. If you guys have seen my most recent Instagram post (which you can find here) then you will know that last weekend, I went to see HRVY in Manchester.

I originally heard about HRVY way back in May when I went to see The Vamps in concert (which you can also find my review of here). He was one of their support acts, and though initially I wasn’t really into his music, the more I listened to him after that night the more I enjoyed it. So when I found out that he was doing a headlining tour, I thought I would try to get tickets for Orchid and myself, as she loves his music even more than I do. We got the tickets, booked a hotel and before we knew it, we were on a train to Manchester.

However, one of the main things that was bothering me about this concert was that it was at the Manchester Academy. I had never been there before and the only thing I really knew about it was that it was standing only. This made me quite anxious as I’m usually not very good in crowded places, especially tight crowds, and I was worried that it could cause an Anxiety Attack, which was the last thing I wanted. The Academy was also quite far from our hotel, which meant that we would have to get a taxi there and back, which again made me anxious just in case anything happened.

I managed to get past these worries and Orchid and I arrived at the venue at 7pm, just in time for the doors to open. It surprised us to see the entrance queue circling the building, as we had never seen a queue look so long for a concert. As we were walking in, the security wasn’t as thorough as it is at Manchester Arena, but that was to be expected as it is a smaller venue. When we finally got in, we did our mad dash for merchandise and drinks and joined the crowd who were gathering in front of the stage. Given how anxious I felt about being in a crowd of people beforehand, it was strangely comforting. This is going to sound weird, but it felt this gig felt more intimate than others I had been to in the past.

There was only one support act and her name was CC Clarke. She is a singer-songwriter and beauty blogger on YouTube from Hertfordshire. I had never heard of her before but she was really good and I really enjoyed listening to her music. I thought it was particularly lovely when she invited some of her fans on stage to dance with her, then offered to send them some make-up as a thank you at the end.

There was a half an hour wait between the support act and HRVY. This was filled with people singing along to the background music, everyone competing in a last-minute rush to buy merchandise, and the crowd chanting HRVY every time the music went quiet, expecting him to jump out on stage. Then, the lights started flashing and HRVY’s song ‘Personal’ began playing, although at first you wouldn’t have known with all the screaming from the crowd.

HRVY then jumped onto the stage, people started singing along and the concert went into full swing. He played songs from his Holiday EP and Talk to Ya EP including; La La La (Means I love you), Holiday and Personal. He also sang covers of Perfect by Ed Sheeran and In My Blood by Shawn Mendes. I absolutely love these songs and this was possibly my favourite part of the gig, he really did them justice. The gig was also filled with just genuinely fun stuff, like singing happy birthday to some of his fans, and him making jokes about his earpiece needing batteries and always falling out.

The only negative thing that I could really say about this gig is that, because it was standing and I was a short person at the back of the crowd, I couldn’t see very well and had to watch most of it through other people’s phones. However, this is to be expected at the Academy and it didn’t hinder my experience of the show, I just wish I was a little bit taller.

Overall, I really enjoyed this night and was a great performance for my first standing gig. I would absolutely do it all over again if I ever had the chance!

That’s all for this week guys, I hope you enjoyed this concert review, and if you did please feel free to get in touch with me in the comments below. There won’t be a blog post next week as I am having a week away for summer, but I will be back August 10^th!

Until then guys,

An Anxious Gal