“If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life?” said Lewis Capaldi at the second of two intimate shows at Dundee’s Fat Sam’s on Saturday.
“**** off. A lot of the time I hate doing this, no-one’s job is fun all the time… but if you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.”
Bathgate’s finest was speaking the day after his bound for glory second album Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent was unleashed.
Part of a nationwide album launch tour, with the Dundee leg organised by Assai Records, this show would have disappointed no-one.
In 45 minutes, BBC Radio 6 Music’s Matt Everitt led the mercurial joker with a fallen angel’s voice through a brief Q&A, the several-hundred strong audience were invited to ask questions and then he finished with four acoustic songs.
There were audience requests to sign things, pose for pictures and even climb into the crowd to hug an elderly fan, but amid it all we learned much, including about his writing method: “I get up at the crack of noon, watch TV, then start bashing away at the guitar or piano. I think ‘it’s a bit ****, I bet this never happens to Bono,’ then something happens.”
Capaldi’s dream duet would be with Paul McCartney, “but he doesn’t know I exist,” he’s friendly with Noel Gallagher, but “you can’t dish out **** for twenty years and not take some in return,” and he was summoned to meet Liam Gallagher at Glastonbury, to be told “I love how you wind our kid up.”
His songs of the moment are Bones by Radiohead, Daylight by David Kushner and Delicate by Damien Rice.
He signed off with electrifying versions of The Pretender, Haven’t You Ever Been in Love Before? And Wish You the Best, complete with audience singalong, before the crowd were invited to choose between Somebody You Loved and Before You Go as a sign-off – they went for the latter.
Lewis Capaldi will play the Radio 1 Big Weekend in Dundee this weekend.
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