LIVE REVIEW: Tom Grennan, Tom Walker, Allie Sherlock, Bournemouth International Centre, 03/09/2025
Photo Credit: Kevin O’Sullivan
Following the release of his fourth studio album Everywhere I Went Led Me to Where I Didn’t Want to Be, Tom Grennan headed out on a run of headline shows across the UK. The tour kicked off at a sold out Bournemouth International Centre, read on to find out exactly what went down.
Tonight’s opener was Irish singer/busker Allie Sherlock taking to the stage with Filipe Colares. Performing a set of both original and cover tracks, her take on Alex Warren’s The Ordinary left nowhere to hide as her vocals filled the arena. Entwined within the covers were original tracks including sing-along Ex Friend and How Love Works; the former of which being an earworm we found ourselves singing along to long after the set ended! Lyrically both these tracks shine and tell of experiences many in the crowd could relate to but sadly this set just felt a little bit too flat. Maybe it was the ongoing shoe issue or how the energy of each song never lifted or even due to the venue size and experience but something was just missing. However this being said it was clear that Allie had a brilliant time out on that stage, the self confessed number one Adele fan got the crowd singing along to closer Set Fire To The Rain, packing an emotional punch as we all warmed up our vocal chords for the night ahead.
Tonight was the tale of two Tom’s, both very different musically but both headliners in their own right. Opening with Holy Ghost, Tom Walker changed the atmosphere in the room completely. It was captivating as his emotive, Scottish vocals filled the room. Taking a journey through his back catalogue with the nine song set, well known tracks such as Just You and I erupted into a mass singalong and Wait For You with the slick guitar instrumental section made it easy to forget everyone else in the room. Having been on the music scene for many years, it showed with his onstage banter with the audience, ‘My grandmother could do better than that’ was a fun insult as we were reminded our singalongs to Head Under Water left more to be desired! Personal favourite Burn changed up the set, described as ‘for people who’ve had a bad day, week, or have any trauma deep down. This is our little therapy session together. You just have to dig deep and pretend to be an Olympic singer’ and that we did! This aggressive, punch filled number is one of our favourites, showing the raw, rough vocals of Walker and the musical versatility he possess. There was always going to be just one song to round off the set, the song which started it all; Leave A Light On. Rocked up, crowd involvement and Walker absorbing every bit of energy the crowd gave him with a smile on his face. The beauty of this set, is that it’s a reminder of the importance of brilliant music and vocals to match. No overly fancy staging, just songs and sincere lyrics doing the work at casting a spell on the crowd.
Getting everyone’s full attention, Tom Grennan kicked off the first night of his headline tour bursting onto stage into Full Attention with a clear spring in his step. Supported onstage with a live band including drums, horns, guitars and a trio of backing vocalists, this was an arena worthy set up in the intimate BIC surroundings.
Singalong friendly Higher, got us dancing in our seat as Grennan bounded across the stage and played up to the photographers down in the pit… see our gallery for evidence of these antics! With such an energy came a little in-ear mishap during All These Nights which was perfectly styled out like the professional the live singer is. Showering the crowd in a sea of confetti very early on in the show, smiles graced the crowd as Grennan looked on smiling at those here to support him on his journey.
Riding high following his latest album Everywhere I Went Led Me to Where I Didn’t Want to Be reaching number one in its release week, this was a chance to showcase tracks from the album including Cool With That, party anthem Celebrate and I Won’t Miss A Thing. Unfortunately as with the lesser known tracks it felt like there was a slight dip in the energy from the crowd, it also highlighted some issues with the sound mixing tonight. The moments where Grennan was supported by his backing vocalists or significant musical backing meant we could barely hear his vocals. But those moments where it was only Grennan’s powerful tones filling the room it was magic in particular during Boys Don’t Cry and Don’t Break The Heart.
Explaining that Crown Your Love is one of his favourite songs, it soon became one of ours as this was an incredibly special part of the set. Leaving us saying ‘wow’ as the crowd got on board with clapping, swaying and a simply beautiful Tom focussed outro it was such as special part of the night. Giving insights into songs, I Won’t Miss A Thing was a reminder of how important life is, the importance of living and appreciating it in the here and now. The emotion in the room became overwhelming, as the venue lit up representing the loved ones no longer with us. However, before we had a chance to enjoy the moment we were met with the backing vocalists down at the front of the stage and party track Certified kicked off. Beaming with pride as he explained he has recently become a dad, a cute moment then came as Diamond was dedicated to his little girl.
We were reminded just how many great tracks Tom has been a part of including Found What I’ve Been Looking For and Let’s Go Home Together. Backing vocalist Petra took to centre stage for a playful take on Let’s Go Home Together, bring a smile to our faces as the cheeky lyrics were sung back by the crowd. The connection between the singer and his band was clear, taking in each others excitement and celebrating their wins when those notes were hit or the music was consistently on point.
Heading towards the end of the set, it became a run of bops after bop (and collaborations) from the moment How Does It Feel kicked off. After a slight pause to check on a fan within the crowd, joking about selling water he’d dipped his finger into for 50p on eBay and starting the track from the top, the venue was jumping with an electric atmosphere all round. Turning the room into a club vibe, Lionheart and By Your Side had the venue jumping and at times wobbling from our seats in the balcony. Joking ‘I officially dance like a dad’ as he pulled out some questionable moves, we can’t wait to find out if it improved across the tour!
With no encore, rather a run through to keep the energy high Remind Me and Little Bit Of Love closed off the set with big singalongs. ‘This has been one of my favourites so far, I’m never going to forget this and hope I can do this for the rest of my life’, with confetti raining down once more there was more than a little bit love in the room tonight.
It’s hard to not fall in love with Tom Grennan and his showman qualities. Explaining how much he loves ‘the venue, sea air, fish and chips and beautiful people’ it was his self-described popstar moment and every bit of success and love received couldn’t have been more deserved. Describing it as ‘the best job in the world’, there were multitude of moments when he appeared visibly moved by the response received during moments he explained he’d previously dreamt of. We just can’t help but wish the sound was more favourable to enjoy Tom’s vocals which were the reason we were here tonight, despite this and a questionable at times setlist order it was still a brilliant live show from one of the strongest performers in the UK right now.
Written By: Nicola Craig
