'I saw Lewis Capaldi's epic comeback tour - and it was an emotional rollercoaster'

The last few years have been turbulent to say the least for Scotland's answer to Adele. Since catapulting into the music industry in 2019 with his debut album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, Lewis Capaldi has gone from strength to strength. By the time he released his follow-up 2023 album Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent, the 28-year-old's ability to mic his dry sense of humour with his tear-jerking performances has cemented himself as one of the UK's biggest solo musicians.

But things took an unexpected turn at Glastonbury in 2023. The Whitburn-native suffered a difficult set when performing on the Pyramid Stage in 2023 when he publicly battled with Tourette's. Yet his ever-loyal fanbase supported him throughout, singing along in his stead to his hit single, Someone You Loved.

Days after his performance, the hitmaker announced a hiatus and cancelled all touring dates to focus on his mental health and physical wellbeing. It wouldn't be another two years before he returned to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury again for his major comeback.

Despite his hiatus, fans have remained constant supporters of the beloved Scotsman, and his impressive arena tour-consisting of 17 dates throughout September-sold out in record time. It's fair to say fans were fizzing with excitement following Capaldi's announcement of his UK and Ireland tour, which kicked off at Utilita Arena in Sheffield on September 6.

On the opening night, Capaldi ran out on stage at 8:45pm as the opening strains of Survive played out, warning the crowd that the gig would be emotional for him and the fans.

Backed by his five-piece band on a tiered stage featuring dramatic visuals streaming out over the curtains behind him, his chart-topping hits sparked instant sing-alongs with attendees from the first note.

Lewis opened the show with three songs from his new album Heavenly Kind of State of Mind before he finally greeted the 13,600-strong crowd. Before jumping into his record-breaking single Wish You The Best, the singer acknowledged his two-year hiatus from music.

He told the roaring crowd: "Sheffield, thank you so much for still being here. This is genuinely quite overwhelming to be standing in front of this many people after all that time off. It means the f***ing world."

Attendees donned Coldplay-esque wristbands, which scattered red and yellow lights in the dark, before confetti streamed down on the arena from above. The stadium lit up as his hit tracks Bruises and Forget Me played out with fans screaming along in tandem.

Although his usual onstage banter was absent, his vocals didn't fail to impress as he gave it his all with back-to-back ballads and heartbreak anthems.

Emotions were running high throughout the performance, particularly when Capaldi debuted a new song titled The Day That I Die, admitting that he wrote it during his hiatus "at a time I didn't know I would be around for".

Sitting along at the grand piano, Capaldi was clearly overwhelmed with emotion with his raspy voice breaking in the final chorus.

After playing the final notes of the heartbreaking ballad, Capaldi lowered his head and briefly cried on stage before regaining his composure and powering through with the rest of the set.

The performance clearly took a lot out of him, but he finished the set with the crowd-pleaser Someone You Loved. Despite the rollercoaster night, Lewis closed out the night with a smile that never faltered as he thanked his loyal fans.

He gushed: "It means everything that we're back doing this. Excuse the pun, but I'll be doing it till the day I die." This sell-out tour is certainly not one to be missed, and despite his nerves returning to the main stage on the opening night, Capaldi didn't fail to impress.

The Scotsman was firing on all cylinders and gave a gut-wrenching performance from beginning to end. He's back with a bang.