Englishman George Ezra rocked Terminal 5 in New York City on Tuesday night to a packed audience. "I'm George Ezra and this is my lovely band", he humbly announced to 3000 people who paid to see him. Opening to the tune of Austin Powers paying homage to Verne Troyer, Ezra followed his support Noah Kahan with 'Cassie O'', a lively classic from his debut album, 'Wanted On Voyage'.
After putting the fears of the crowd to rest in assuring us there would be songs both old and new, he began to drip feed the story of writing his new album, Staying at Tamara's, like a Netflix series that drops an episode a week. One thing we do know is that if his rustic voice didn't propel him to stardom, his storytelling skills just might have. While attempting to write another album, Ezra took off to Barcelona in search of inspiration, choosing to stay with a host instead of a hotel, in a couchsurfing style vacation.
His host, you may have already guessed, was named Tamara. Ezra rocked an almost overfilled Terminal 5 with hits like 'Blame It On Me' and 'Pretty Shining People', the opening track of his recently released album that you just know is set to be a hit. His smile throughout the song radiated around the venue and demonstrated to us how much he loves what he does, and how he is still a little starstruck every time he hits that stage. The song itself is based on sitting in a small Spanish cafe in the middle of the day, looking around at all the people and thinking "not one of us know what the hell we're doing here".
That's exactly the theme that features throughout his music, relatable messages that are taken from the ordinary and made extraordinary. The simplicity of 'Shotgun', not a 2nd amendment advocating song but actually about the simple bliss of riding shotgun in a car through the blazing summer heat. Deeper questions are reflected upon too, further through the album with 'All My Love' and 'Only A Human', just to demonstrate that capability in his writing.
Having caused an audience with an age range wider than the Cape Cod Canal to dance and sway uncontrollably for over an hour, Ezra dropped some shocking news. The singer-songwriter had written 'Budapest', his breakout hit, after missing his train to the city and deciding to skip visiting altogether, caused by a bottle of rum and the Eurovision Song contest the night prior. All I can say is, thank God for that.
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