It’s a freezing and drizzly Thursday night in Manchester, yet when I arrive at the O2 Ritz to chat to Tom Grennan there is a lengthy queue of eager and dedicated fans, despite the fact that the gig won’t start for another couple of hours. I find Tom saying fond goodbyes to a couple of particularly lucky fans, who won a competition to meet him – their excitement is tangible. As his tour manager puts it, “he is very easy to get to know”.

Grennan’s ambition is evident both in the interview and during his set: he reminisces about his last Manchester gig in October at 500 capacity Sound Control, telling me that he was ill during that show, but that he is on “top form” tonight. And he certainly is, hyping the crowd up and coaxing riotous applause out of them at the end of each song. He is passionate on stage, particularly while performing his newest single ‘Sober’: “I got so excited with that song, I was so out of time. I call it the belly butterflies”.

He tells me that the highlight of last year was working with Chase and Status on ‘All Goes Wrong’, a hard-hitting track that blends his soaring vocals with drum and bass. He teases the crowd: “As you know I did a song with Chase and Status… And I’ve been talking with them and… I want to introduce you to Chase and…… only joking!”.  Yet the crowd doesn’t mind as his toned down live version of the track shows off his stunningly strong vocals. As for future collaborations? He names Kendrick Lamar and Adele as acts he would like to work with, as well as Eminem, “although Ed Sheeran has done that recently”.

Despite the release date for his album Lighting Matches being pushed back not once, but twice (now set for 6^th July), he is adamant that it will be worth the wait: “there are lots of surprises, lots of brass, lots of orchestra and strings”. Its release will be the highlight of this year for him. His favourite song off the album? “’Aboard’, which is the next single; it really gets the crowd going”. He makes frequent references to the album throughout the set, “Grennan’s going to go to number one, all aboard the Grennan express, we aren’t stopping off! We’re going to knock people off the charts!”

He places emphasis on the ‘we’- it is clear that his fans mean a lot to him, and the feeling is clearly mutual as their voices get close to drowning his out at several points of the set. There are football lads, undoubtedly introduced to his music by ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’ on the FIFA ’18 soundtrack; families with small children; and giggly teenage girls, although after mentioning taking his shirt off because of the heat he affirms that “when I say about taking my shirt off I’m joking, because we’re not fucking One Direction, we’re better than One Direction.” He tells me that he always aims to meet his fans after the gigs, although this is getting harder as the venues get bigger.

The thing he is looking forward to most this year? “Definitely the album release, as well as doing lots of touring and festivals. I am playing at the same festival as Arctic Monkeys and they’re the last of my favourite artists that I have yet to play [at the same festival] with”. His show at the almost 5,000 capacity O2 Academy Brixton in October, his biggest headline show to date, also makes the list. Yet Grennan aspires for even bigger venues “I want to play United!” (Old Trafford), he laughs. He tells me that he wants to tour “everywhere: South America, South Korea- if it gets me on a plane then I love it”.  Despite these aspirations he stays humble, recognising that “not many people from Bedford get to do this”. The Tom Grennan Express is going places, catch it while you can!

 

Catch Tom Grennan on his UK tour in October.

 

10th - Newcastle - Northumbria Institute     11th - Leeds- O2 Academy 

12th - Manchester - Academy 1                  14th - Bristol - O2 Academy     

15th - Southampton - Guildhall                   16th - London - Brixton Academy

18th - Oxford - O2 Academy                      19th - Leicester - Academy 

20th - Liverpool - O2 Academy                   21st - Norwich - UEA   

23rd - Birmingham - O2 Academy              24th - Sheffield - O2 Academy

25th - Margate - Winter Gardens