Back on the road again, Lucy Spraggan took to Gateshead’s Sage 2 for a raucous return to touring.
Since being shot into the starlight on The X Factor in 2012, an unpredicted success story that Spraggan chuckles about halfway through her 16-track strong set, the singer/songwriter has gone on to attract an almost cult-like following. “Who in here has seen my show before” she wonders early on, before being met by a wall of cheers from in-voice Geordies.
And as you listen to 2019’s stunning Today Was A Good Day, it’s not surprising everyone has stuck around. A lyricist like no other, Spraggan’s trademark flicks are honest and endearing. Four records since X Factor fame have storied the 28-year-old’s love, loss, laughter and everything in between.
It’s a journey that comes alive in the live show. In between delivering ‘Today Was a Good Day’ with a cheesy grin, playing into Northerner hearts when jibing at the capital in ‘London Bound’ and encouraging fans to sing the wrong lyrics to ‘Loaded Gun’, there’s a feeling that Spraggan is happier than ever. “I’m having a great time”, she gushes a few times through the night.
A rowdy Newcastle crowd no doubt helped with that. Fan favourites ‘Don’t Know Nothing About The Blues’ and ‘Last Night (Beer Fear)’ are witty sing-a-long classics that make the fans chuckle even on the hundredth listen. A stripped-back cover of The Proclaimers’ ‘500 miles’, a candidate for a future Marks & Spencers Christmas advert Spraggan winks, is meant to be emotional but one louder lad hasn’t got that message as he bellows out a refrain of “da, da, da”.
It’s an up-for-it crowd that goes hand in hand with Lucy Spraggan’s happy-go-lucky set. Though, when she needs to, the singer cracks her songwriting prowess to switch things up in a heartbeat. ‘Tea & Toast’ has two fans go from leading accent-based banter with Spraggan to weeping at the back. Elsewhere, the heart-wrenching ‘As The Saying Goes’ is met with sheer silence.
That’s what makes the singer so special, tracks from the heart at this quality just don’t come around that often anymore. There’s nothing like a Spragan smorgasbord of life on a Tuesday night.
Are you cathing Lucy Spraggan on any of her U.K., Ireland or European dates? Let us know @CelebMix on Twitter.