LIVE REVIEW: Teddy Swims, Cian Ducrot, Utilita Arena Birmingham, 03/03/2025
Photo Credit: Caitlyn Ebsworthy
We headed down to the Utilita Arena in Birmingham to catch Teddy Swims at the opening show of the UK/EU leg of his I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Tour; the first of two sold out shows at the venue. He was joined, as he is for the entirety of the tour, by breakout star Cian Ducrot as his support.
Opening up the night Cian Ducrot came out to huge applause. Later speaking with security between the sets we found out there were in fact a fair few people who specifically came to catch him! The Irish singer-songwriter has good reason for the hype, boasting not only a number one album but now a Grammy for song-writing (Co-writer of Saturn – SZA). There is a lot to love about the Cork born artist, which we already suspected after catching his secret set at Boardmasters last year. He treated us to some of his better known hits including All for You and Heaven. Amongst the old was some new material including his new single Who’s Making You Feel It and a special moment where he recorded a live version of an upcoming song called, What About Love that was available for fans to download after the show via a QR code displayed behind him. We think Ducrot quite possibly is a huge new name to keep an eye on. 8/10
It was then time for the headliner. He appeared at the top of a runway stage, which was in somewhat of an S shape, swooping downwards to the main stage creating a walkway for him to come onto the main stage from. Despite the size of the occasion, he seemed calm and a huge smiled played across his face once he was revealed to the crowd. Opening up the set with Not Your Man, he immediately displayed his impressive vocals; a deeply soulful gritty tone laced on R&B beats. Hammer to the Heart and Apple Juice followed where he had the crowd bouncing and singing along. He was consistently good throughout the show, carrying off riffs equal in quality to those on his records. A fantastic live vocalist.
The stage production was hugely worth noting. Its not a spoiler that Swims doesn’t have any choreography or dancers so sometimes for an artist who relies on just their voice the staging can massively effect the performance. In this case, it hugely elevated it. Tasteful use of LED screens and pyro made the show feel like a stadium show compared to an arena. Funeral was engulfed with fire pyrotechnics throughout, warming up Birmingham on a cold March evening.
For someone who’s not been in the industry that long he performs with the grace of a seasoned professional, calm and confident, taking moments to talk to the audience, even signing merch handed to him throughout some songs, not missing a beat once. Swims has had a meteoric rise to fame and it seems to be non-stop with his entire run in the UK and Ireland sold out, some venues being upwards of fifteen thousand capacity and he’s playing them twice. We think it’s likely his honesty regarding life and the struggles we all face resonates deeply with everyone currently absorbing his music. He’s found a deep level of relatability and managed to share that intimately with rooms packed full of thousands of people around the world. 8/10
Written by: Caitlyn Ebsworthy
