Starting their 3 date tour in legendary Manchester venue The Factory, the Irish duo had fans both young and old, long standing and brand new, local and from abroad. Many had travelled to the show, the first since the advent of the Covid-19 Pandemic, not just from around the UK and Ireland, but also from as far flung locations as Canada.
Jedward have been going strong since their start back in 2009, with many of their fans loyal to them since those early days, while others have joined along the way. I’ve only been a part for their journey since 2011, but when you’re a Jedward fan, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been there from day one or from today; what’s important is that you’re there.
Jedward’s current UK tour, takes in 3 dates, Manchester last night, London tonight, and Glasgow tomorrow. The tour is to promote their 2019 album, ‘Voice Of A Rebel’, which was entirely written and produced by John and Edward themselves (with 22 songs!), and while this might seem a long gap between album and concerts, we all know what state the world has been in. Jedward will be releasing their 5th album later this year, and that one will also have a tour, hopefully not with a 3 year gap! You can bet this writer will be joining that tour too!
John and Edward came on stage at 8pm and didn’t stop their high energy performance until just after 10. With four albums under their belts, plus some 13 non-album singles, there were plenty of songs to choose from, and in addition to their album tracks, they had their now well-established acoustic session, which sees John playing guitar and singing, with Edward’s accompaniment. As a special treat for the locals, they performed a rousing rendition of the Oasis classic, ‘Wonderwall’, which went down an absolute storm, the audience belting out every word.
And that’s the thing about Jedward fans. They sing. They sing every word, they know every song. Detractors of Jedward presume that they and their fans only know pop and of that only Jedward’s version of it. But John and Edward themselves are known to have encyclopaedic musical knowledge, and have great memories for massive catalogues of songs – in addition to their own. They also added a fair few a Capella renditions of some of their own songs and covers, proving (as always) the haters wrong, and singing them pitch perfect.
As this was the first concert of the tour, and with many doing all three dates, the Manchester show covered a wide range of songs from across the entire Jedwardian era – songs such as Ghostbusters and All The Small Things made the cut, alongside their two Eurovision entries, Lipstick and Waterline (the former getting a reprise later in the show), and newer tracks such as the title track from the Voice Of A Rebel album, and crowd favourite, the absolute banger, Extraordinary. Tonight we are promised some more of their later tracks, and I for one am furiously refreshing my memory of all the words.
Jedward perform at the Camden Assembly tonight. This date is completely sold out. Tomorrow night they will be at The Garage, Glasgow.
Manchester set list:
Waterline
Luminous
Extraordinary
Respect Your Dreams
Happens In The Dark
Bodies In Action
Young Love
(Acoustic session):
- Wonderwall
- Nothing Compares 2U
- Teenage Dirtbag
- As It Was
Teenage Runaway
Bad Behaviour
Hold The World (a Capella)
Go Getter (a Capella)
Soul Crushing
All The Small Things
Can’t Forget You
Spice Things Up
Ferocious
Under Pressure/Ice Ice Baby
Everyday Superstar
Numb (a Capella)
You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful (a Capella)
Phoenix Wings
Good Vibes
Lipstick
Voice Of A Rebel
Free Spirit (a Capella)
Mr Brightside (a Capella)
Taste The Heat
Ghostbusters
Lipstick (reprise)
