Lewis Capaldi finally made his Wythenshawe Park debut, delivering a 16-song set that proved well worth the three-year wait. The Glaswegian singer-songwriter told the crowd it was 'great to be back' in Manchester, performing all the tracks fans had turned out to see.
The set list featured favourites from his two albums and EPs, including Someone You Loved, Grace, Forget Me, Heavenly Kind of State of Mind and Hollywood. Between tracks, Capaldi ribbed the crowd and, in his typical fashion, took the piss out of himself.
A defiant anthem and a personal promise
Capaldi declared his song catalogue 'the perfect soundtrack for being depressed to' - and at lyric level alone, you can perhaps be forgiven for agreeing. One of his songs is literally about his death, after all.
But his seemingly happy-go-lucky nature, always laughing and joking, often at his own expense, meant the tone for the entire show was positive. This was set as he headlined Saturday's Live from Wythenshawe Park show.
No song embodies this quite as perfectly as Capaldi's defiant 2025 hit Survive, which came as part of his encore. Standing among tens of thousands of people bellowing 'I swear to God I'll survive, if it kills me to', you can't help but feel that with the right level of stubbornness, you can take on the world.
Opening up about health struggles
The theme was reflected in some of the night's serious notes, with Capaldi speaking of his struggles with his mental and physical health. He had to cancel a previous performance in Wythenshawe Park in 2023, along with other tour dates, because of this.
The decision followed an emotional performance at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2023 where he struggled with his voice and experienced increased Tourette's syndrome tics.
He told the Manchester crowd: “I had to take a break from music a couple of years ago because mentally and physically I wasn’t doing very well, but I’m really glad to say I feel great now and I feel happy. So, feeling great now, but unfortunately this is a song about my death, so please enjoy.”
Crowd engagement and support acts
Capaldi opened his set by promising gig-goers a 'fun' night before going on to quite resoundingly deliver. At one point, lights cut to a dark and sombre close-up of Capaldi performing an intense guitar riff, before he stuck his tongue out at the camera.
He gave fans plenty of opportunities to belt out his tracks, regularly turning the mic towards them. He also dipped into a few verses of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, delivering a version that was, frankly, better than the original.
It seemed like every Scot in Manchester had turned out to support their countryman, with Scottish accents and flags in abundance. Cries of 'Glasgow' echoed across the field at regular intervals.
Two support acts warmed up gig-goers. Quiet Man played a thoughtful set, before wowing the audience with a beautiful rendition of One Day Like This by Greater Manchester's own Elbow. Manchester-favourite Loyle Carner revved up the crowd with his unique mixture of hiphop and poetic rap.
As the night came to an end, Capaldi thanked the 'beautiful' Manchester audience before leaving fans with something to get excited about - the promise of new music to come. With three gigs to go, he said he would be back in the studio at the end of his tour working up a 'brand new album'.
