The rise of Henry Moodie from dream-filled songwriter to certified pop star is most clear in the size of stages he has come to grace.
Debuting at Lafayette 18 months ago, the rising star has transformed crowds of 600 to 3,300 is rapid time. Those are impressive figures.
Arriving on stage at the Roundhouse on Monday night, Moodie is up for the occasion. The 20-year-old allows a candid moment of shock, gasping as he strides on stage, but is soon ready to meet the occasion. A glint in his eye as he composes himself in front of the huge artwork eyes behind him, ‘good old days’ whirrs into life.
Throughout Monday night and across his discography, the songwriter muses on a lost childhood. Yet, there’s a juvenile keenness of a teenager rocketed into the spotlight that lights up his Roundhouse set.
There’s a cheesiness to the heartfelt ‘pick up the phone’ which is still endearing and ‘beat up car’ sees the singer lean into the lovesick late teenage years – the latter ending in a Roundhouse singalong that leaves the singer grinning.
“My biggest goal as an artist and a songwriter is to write music for anyone going through hard times,” Moodie explains early on in his set. As an MO, that’s pretty clear to hear.
There are few moments in the star’s set that feel more heartfelt than ‘the old me’. A track written alone in his bedroom, Moodie admits he was having an “existential crisis” about having to grow up so quickly.
It would perhaps be easy for parents in the audience to crack a wry smile at the 20-year-old’s nostalgia, but there’s a magic in the way he captures coming of age emotions in that track, entering his own world in front of a sea of phone lights.
Other highlights come in the punchy ‘orbit’ – named one of CelebMix’s top tracks of 2023 – and in new flick ‘right person, wrong time’.
There’s time for a couple covers too. The choice of The Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Iris’ feels a little lost on his young crowd but a rendition of Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ hits the mark – all the more so after an endearing story of belting the track out the car window at six years old.
The night ends on viral track ‘drunk text’, the single that has gone a long way to making those stages five times bigger in 18 months.
The real reason that’s happened though is the artist himself. It’s impossible not to buy into the rise of Henry Moodie as he leaves The Roundhouse with thanks for the “most surreal night of my life”.
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