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Ziggy Alberts at Albert Hall – the warm waves of Aussie folk land in Manchester

Manchester’s Albert Hall became Ziggy Albert’s Hall, and boy were we in for a treat

Thomas Melia - 6th August 2024

It takes a lot to cheer up a cloudy Manchester day – but Ziggy Alberts and his sunny Aussie folk proved to be just the ticket last weekend.

Ziggy Alberts is an Australian singer/songwriter whose music follows a very narrative structure. He’s an acoustic artist whose songs include elements of folk and Americana, with most tracks using stripped back instrumentals underneath the his prominent vocals.

For newcomers to this performer and even those who want to learn a little bit more about the star, he has a playlist on his Apple Music profile dedicated to his influences, where you’ll find artists including American band The Lumineers and Irish talent Hozier. The 90’s R&B group En-Vogue even make an appearance in the list with their song ‘Whatta Man’.

But this world tour is not a solo mission. Ziggy Alberts is accompanied by Steph Strings, a fellow Australian, who is supporting him on this 2024 concert run including at his Manchester show.

The 23-year-old even switched her setlist up for the ‘rowdy crowd’ as Mancs proved to be simply too energetic. On behalf of all Mancunians, we’ll accept the compliment.

The Melbourne-based singer had all grounds covered, with guitar in hand, kick pedal on the right foot and tambourine on the left.

Keeping spirits high, Ziggy opened with ‘Days in the Sun’, with a steady drum kick which built adrenaline amongst the already bubbly crowd. Using the two elements he knows best – his voice and his guitar – Alberts brought the crowd to life, and replaced buses and bustling streets for sun, sand and sea much like the title of his 2014 debut ‘Land & Sea’.

With 1.35 million Spotify listeners, the 30-year-old singer is no stranger to performing to packed out crowds, performing in this lovely city just over 12 months ago. Manchester’s Albert Hall is one of the city’s many iconic live music venues and Alberts definitely didn’t feel out of place, especially with his own iconic look… that impressive moustache.

Alberts has three rules for anyone visiting his shows “Don’t diss the moustache”, “Take care of each other” and “Sing loud”.

He may live a 24 hour-flight away from the UK, but he made sure to make it his home, rocking the stage with a snazzy rug and no footwear in sight.

Halfway through the show during an interlude, the Australian star ran off the stage and into the crowd. There’s a real sense of fan-love and this moment proved it. Ziggy created a call and response with an unreleased song titled ‘Where Does The Love Go?’, and fans were all for it.

The show concluded with an encore of three songs, the banjo-laced ‘New Love’ was a real highlight. The song itself opens with Ziggy Albert confessing: “Feels like I’ve been running for most my life,” and when you’re currently embarking on a world tour it’s safe to say this is more than reasonable.

His newest release and also the title of his current world tour, if Ziggy is ‘Making space for new love’ then you could say we’re making space for a permanent residency in Manchester – we don’t want him to leave.

Finishing with the Australian’s 2018 single ‘Laps Around The Sun’, Alberts found himself repeating the lyrics “Oh how much there is left to learn” with echoes from the crowd (Primary School taught us well).

The crowd have been so captivated by this man and his guitar that we didn’t realise almost two hours had passed by, and the singer’s performance had to come to an end.

What a phenomenal show and as he said himself, he’s ‘done it all independent’.

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Featured image: The Manc Group