Declan McKenna Zeros Tour

 Declan McKenna Zeros Tour

J1, Cambridge Junction - 23rd August 2021

"Cambridge are the OG's... everyone in this room saw me busking in the street 5 years ago." Declan McKenna appreciatively told the sold out crowd on the first night of his Zeros Tour, kicking off in Cambridge last night. With the checkerboard stage set with glitter balls and confetti cannons, the atmosphere was electric! You better believe Declan was on top form wearing his glittery suit, and the set had everything that you could have asked for. This gig was a humongous deal for me as it marked my return to indoor gigs for the first time in 18 months, and I couldn't think of anyone better to do it with than Declan!

He gave the crowd exactly what they wanted with a blistering start performing 'Beautiful Faces', 'Rapture' and 'Sagittarius A*' accompanied by the confetti cannons going off, making sure that the concert literally started with a bang!  Declan appeared to be full of confidence, happy to be back and ready to perform his heart out. With these bangers he immediately got the crowd going and full of excitement - these laid the foundations for the rest of the great night to be built on. 

We then moved on to 'Emily', 'Make Me Your Queen' and 'The Kids Don't Wanna Come Home' for a more emotional moment. 'Make Me Your Queen' has been one of my personal favourites for a long time - it either makes me really happy or makes me cry depending on my mood - it gave me butterflies, and the contrast between Declan starting with the acoustic guitar and then building up to the end where he swapped to his glittery gold electric was a highlight of the night.

Next was 'Twice Your Size', and when the opening riff of 'The Key To Life On Earth' kicked in, the crowd went wild!

Declan then gave a laid-back, light-hearted performance of his latest single 'My House'. He commented that he had written, recorded and produced it during the pandemic, which seemed a million miles away and completely forgotten about during the gig. In that moment, nothing else mattered other than what was happening on the stage. 

We then went back to some of Declan's classics - 'Listen To Your Friends', 'Humongous' and 'Isombard'. 'Listen To Your Friends' had everyone swaying along, and it was amazing how many people had memorised the spoken bit to shout along with him. 'Humongous' united the crowd to all jump as one entity, and I'd be surprised if Declan could hear himself over everyone singing along, and 'Isombard' was probably the catchiest chorus of the night!

At this point, Declan told the crowd he had two more songs for us, and went on to play 'You Better Believe!!!' which was full of passion and felt like it should be soundtracking a coming of age movie. He then went up the steps to the higher platform to use the piano for the first time, for an overwhelming performance of 'Be An Astronaut' with a quirky new spin on the piano solo, which he majestically gave his all. 

When Declan and his band left the stage, everyone began chanting "one more song!" and "Woah Declan McKenna" to the tune of Seven Nation Army. To the crowd's delight, they returned for a 5 song encore starting with 'Daniel, You're Still A Child' with Declan back on the piano, and now lacking the sparkly jacket. 

Next was 'Why Do You Feel So Down', where Declan didn't play piano or guitar, so was able to come right up to the crowd on both sides of the stage and engaged and danced with the audience. 

Another one of my highlights was 'Eventually, Darling' where the lights were muted other than the reflection of the white light from the glitter balls, giving a beautiful starlight effect and creating the perfect atmosphere for the song. This was the song I was looking forward to the most - as I've had it on repeat the last few days, and I couldn't stop smiling!

There is no better way to finish a Declan McKenna set than with 'Brazil' and 'British Bombs' (and of course more confetti cannons!). A triumphant, familiar celebration of Declan McKenna and his music - I don't think there was a single person not singing along, even the mums, dads and grandmas that I met in the audience knew all the words!

Packed with Declan's new song, the old hits, and all the songs from 'Zeros' there was hardly time to take it all in and take a breath before the next musical masterpiece was coming at ya. The post concert depression is real today, and I'm seriously thinking of getting myself some tickets to see him again in Norwich next month! 

Photos: @marcusprousejr