An Evening with Hobbie Stuart

The long awaited day came on Sunday, Hobbie Stuart had finally decided to take a break from YouTube and go on his first tour. He has visited places like Leeds and Manchester already and is yet to visit London and Bristol. He headed north, past Hadrian's Wall to visit Glasgow, and I could not wait for the show!

Despite his popularity on YouTube, I was surprised to see that the gig was not full, in fact, at a push only half full. It took place at the Garage, in a room round the corner. It was small and intimate and it felt cosy to be there.

Due to other commitments, I did not see the support act, although, I don't feel as though I missed much, as I had paid £8 to see Hobbie really and it was only really a bonus that someone else would be performing. I met my friend Laura at the venue and we went inside and got ourselves a drink, before heading the floor where Hobbie would be taking the stage.

How close to the front we were.

When he arrived, the audience were awkward, and as my friend and I clapped, many others did not and so we stopped rather abruptly, without too many people noticing we were excited to see him there! He played a few songs, some I knew and some I did not. He introduced a few of his new songs.

Hobbie with his beloved guitar!

 In between each song, Hobbie spoke to audience, but something about him made me feel that he wasn't really connecting with the Glaswegian's and in his last efforts, he even told the story of how he once visit Scotland and saw a football match there, when he was four or five years old to soothe the somewhat tension in the room only half full.

I was somewhat disappointed, he did not play any of the songs I love, and he did not sing the songs that made him famous on YouTube, such as Diamonds and Payphone. Furthermore, he sang some of his original songs, but not the first song he wrote; When you Wake. This song, especially, I felt had a good sense of rhythm and the lyrics were good. Another song he chose to sing in the Garage titled Put a Movie On, to be frank did not really appeal to me. It was funny but this was a gig to showcase his talent.

For the new fans who have just subscribed to him on YouTube, I believe they were impressed, as they sang along to the covers he sang by Drake and Ed Sheeran, but for me, I always knew him for his unique song choice and originality. Thus, it was somewhat convoluted by the current pop songs of the day. One of the only songs he chose to sing that I enjoyed was a cover of Fast Car.

For this show, I believe he chose to sing songs that the audience would want to hear, and while it's good he is thinking of them, I would like to hear the songs he loves the most, rather than hearing he chose them because they were popular with the stars he covered.

After the show Hobbie announced he would be doing a Meet and Greet. This was a nice idea, but Laura and I chose to go to Nandos instead. I think we were somewhat disappointed, but still glad we went as we got to see him off the screen on our laptops. It was also an evening out!

Waiting for our food to arrive!

Have you ever been somewhere that did not live up to your expectations?


Kirsty
xxx