It was a toss up between standing in a cold park, watching small rockets and minor colourful explosions temporarily light up the sky or stand in a warm auditorium, checking out three hugely entertaining acts, you won't need three guesses to learn which path we chose!

The first support act came in the shape of Johnny Lloyd, ex front-man of Tribes with his traditional four piece band - drums, two guitarists and female bassist proving backing vocals.

The Tom Odell support slots came along after his very own headline shows and a run of 6 dates supporting Goo Goo Dolls in October.

Performing songs from his new EP ‘Dreamland’, the stand out from his set for me was ‘Happy Humans’ which I understand is receiving rave reviews across various radio stations right now. If you're looking for a traditional rock 'n' roll act that can carry strong melodies and a great vibe, these guys come very highly recommended!

Next up was Rag 'n' Bone Man aka Rory Graham, fresh from his recent appearance on the prestigious BBC2 programme 'Later with Jools Holland' and popular track 'Human' being used during the 2016 Olympics coverage on the BBC.

He was supported by his four piece band and a soulful female backing singer who matched the main man pound for pound on vocal duties! He's a big man with an even bigger voice and some great tunes who's star is rightfully on the rise.

To see support acts of this calibre at the same show is quite a rarity these days, both were enthusiastically received by the crowd.

The lights dipped for the third and final time of the evening and Tom Odell strode out to rapturous applause and took a seat at his piano, backed by a five piece band consisting of guitar, bass, drums, percussion and a female backing singer. A large screen at the back of the stage was often filled with a still image of a bejewelled cheetah.

'Still Getting Used to Being on My Own' opened the show with 'I Know', 'Wrong Crowd', 'Concrete' and 'Can't Pretend' following backed by the full band. The following song 'Sparrow' was played with just piano, bass and harmonica whilst 'Heal' was played solely by Tom on the piano.

The rest of the main set, 'Constellations', 'Grow Old With Me', 'Hold Me' and 'Another Love' featured the full band and, as a result, the crowd really fed off the energy and noise and seemed very enthusiastic with Tom climbing atop his piano on more than one occasion, and even swinging his microphone around in true rock-star style much to the delight of the crowd.

When not providing alternative percussion, it was great to see two perfectly synchronised drummers going at it hammer and tongs.

Eleven songs were played in the main set, with a short break and and a three song encore of 'Somehow', 'Here I Am' and his latest hit 'Magnetised'. My only criticism of the evening was although all Tom's biggest and best songs were played, occasionally much extended versions, a show of just fourteen songs felt a little short to this reviewer. Another three of four songs from his two studio albums would have made a good show last just a little longer and appreciated more by the enthusiastic crowd.

Words Keith Hunt

Photography Mike Lister