It’s something for me that has always been really, really important to me as an artist is being authentic. It’s not that it’s a constant battle, but it is an evolution as an artist. And as you grow as an artist, you want to make sure you’re growing in a really kind of authentic and honest way.
I feel a lot more comfortable doing this style of music and a tour that feels and looks and sounds like this. But also, I feel like I get more back from the fans because of that. And it does feel like the more honest I am, the deeper connection I have with them. Every single show is individual, you know, at least for me. So, you know, I can have a brilliant show the day before, if I’m not feeling amazing on the day, it doesn’t— the show that happened yesterday isn’t as relevant as you might think it is, really, day to day, as a singer and as a performer.
But it’s almost the way that the intro is for The Greatest, and the band go to stage first and they start the intro, and I can hear all that intro in my ears.
And it does feel like you’re about to walk out to a boxing fight, for sure, it’s got that kind of feeling. And I kind of, I’ve said before, in that moment, I don’t really think anything other than what it is I’m about to do.
It is mentally demanding, what we do, but the reward, you know, is worth it every single night. When All This Time starts, I kind of just look out, because even on the best shows— and in fact, often more so on the shows that are really, really exciting and really fun, there’s an element that if you don’t take an opportunity to be present, that those moments pass you by. So I like to just, kind of, just sit out, look at the crowd, think about how far I’ve come.
Like in Amsterdam or any of the places like that, I think about the last venue I played in this city. So, you know, it’s just about me kind of taking in every bit of that moment that I can. Those moments, I’ve learned to really, kind of, cherish those moments during the show, definitely. During Saturdays, which is always a special song for me— I can’t really ever put my finger on specifically why— but from the first time I sang it live, it just… it kind of takes over me emotionally, more so than any other song on the set.
So when the fans did their incredible light show, that fan project, it was amazing because I was already feeling really emotional in the song, and then seeing this incredible spectacle, which is just absolutely undeniable, and you feel…
The great thing about those moments when people hold their phones up is, sometimes when you look into a sea of people, it’s hard to distinguish between every single person. When you’ve got that light up there, you just see the depth of the room, and you see how many people are there and also how many people are engaged for the show. So yeah, that was a really, really special moment for me. We’ve still got the UK leg to do, obviously, but you always find yourself a little more reflective in these times with it being the end of the European leg. I’d just say a general “thank you” to everyone who attended, everyone who supported online.
And hopefully, you know, you feel as proud as I do when you look at the growth and how far we’ve come in just, you know, the space of like 12 months, 18 months. So yeah, massive “thank you” to all of you!
- Transcript to Louis’ IGTV, FITFWT23: EUROPE [1.11.2023]
