Surrounded by giddy women in wedding veils, you would easily be mistaken to think you had somehow stumbled your way into a wild hen party. Only it wasn't. It was the final performance in Olly Murs’ first leg of his Marry Me tour.
Mammoth crowds took their seats at Manchester’s AO Arena eagerly anticipating the performance on Friday night (May 5) - and boy did they get one.
Murs simply exudes charm, charisma and downright cheekiness. It’s what we’ve loved him for ever since he first appeared on our screens in the X Factor back in 2009.
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As if his slick Jackson-esc dance moves and punchy vocals weren’t enough to send the crowd - mostly consisting of teenage girls and middle-aged women - into meltdown, a wink, a grin and a squeeze of his own buttocks certainly did the trick.
His wedding, which is being planned for this summer and inspired the title and theme of his latest album, was a particular talking point throughout much of the show.
The impressive set, a grand construction with various digital displays playing pre-recorded videos that synced with the music, was also adorned with flowers and featured a central arched frame shaped like an alter, where the main man himself first appeared in the middle of a beaming spotlight.
He swiftly launched into Marry Me and strutted his way across the stage as it mixed into a modern and high energy rendition of Elton John’s I’m Still Standing.
Olly's face beamed as he gushed about how he’s the happiest he has ever been and his excitement to tie the knot - much to the disappointment of fans, who, at one point, even began comically booing out of sheer heartache.
You forget how many brilliant pop hits Murs has released in his 14-year music career. With the strike of a piano key or strum of a guitar, bums were out of seats as friends turned to one another to sing along and strut some moves in the aisles.
Barrelling across the stage, all the while hips thrusting, he belted out electro-pop hit You Don’t Know Love with gusto, cooked up another mash up, blending Kiss Me with Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar and powered his way through the likes of Right Place Right Time and Thinking Of Me without so much as a hair falling out of place. “There’s a lot of hairspray on my head” he chuckled.
There was one particularly poignant moment in the show. Murs, who was known for his on and off-screen friendship with Caroline Flack, serenaded the audience to a truly mesmerising tribute to his late friend, with an acoustic rendition of Sweet Caroline.
Once happy memories of the pair were displayed in a slideshow of black and white pictures and selfies they had together, as he wiped a tear away, telling the crowd: “I miss her every day”.
That solemn atmosphere briefly remained throughout the next track, Dear Darlin', which he belted out effortlessly along with support from his equally talented and charming backing singers before swinging his way back into his punchy performance.
Murs must be commended for not only the length of the show, which lasted an impressive hour and 40 minutes, but his utterly infectious energy and stamina that powered on through what was a set list brimming with surprise after surprise.
With party mode well and truly activated, he moved through a number of his newer tracks Best Night of your Life, I Found Her and the somewhat controversial I Hate You When You’re Drunk before reminiscing back to the days of 2011 with Heart Skips a Beat.
The wedding talk continued in another brief but equally entertaining interaction with his band, consisting of a drummer, electric guitarist, pianist and mini cohort of saxophone players. Asking them what song they’d have on their own wedding playlist, Olly then prompts the crowd into agreeing to hear what tunes he’s picked out for his own big day before launching into a vocal mash up of a number of timeless classics.
It was another invigorating shake up to the show, as a disco ball descended and fans were treated to a 15 minute performance of covers to the likes of Lionel Richie’s Dancing On The Ceiling, The YMCA, Sex on Fire (ripping his shirt open in the process) and Celebration.
And a cause for celebration it truly was indeed. Not least because Olly will become a married man himself later this year, but because audiences were treated with a truly epic performance from the opening track to his final bow.
He signed off with his third UK number one and fan favourite Dance With Me Tonight before returning to a stomping encore with Troublemaker. Crowds spilled out of the arena having laughed, cried, boogied and most definitely swooned, with cheeky-chappy Olly to thank for it all.
And if his performance was anything to go by, I’m sure they’ll all be eagerly awaiting their wedding invites in the post.
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