Rag ‘n’ Bone Man | Elles Bailey
The Piece Corridor Halifax
Thursday 10 July 2025
Massive man…massive voice…massive songs. King of the moody ballads Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, gave a sell-out crowd on the Piece Corridor precisely what they needed, however to his credit score, did combine it up, together with his extra uptempo work with membership producer Calvin Harris.
Earlier than that, Queen of UK Americana Elles Bailey supplied her model of nation rock and blues. One factor you may say about Piece Corridor audiences is that they do give the assist acts a good crack of the whip, and Bailey went down properly with a crowd who in all probability weren’t in search of something too difficult. Go away The Mild On was devoted to the folks behind the scenes who meant she might comply with her goals. She launched Over The Hill as a mixture of ‘John Martyn, the Band and Tina Turner, which didn’t stay as much as that grandiose billing. Sunshine Metropolis had a contact of Stax about it, and the personable Bailey made the a lot of the slot, having gained herself fairly just a few extra followers.
Because the closely tattooed Rag ‘n’ Bone Man – aka Rory Graham- wandered onstage, you may need mistaken him for a safety man who’d made the mistaken flip, however when he opened his mouth to unleash that deep baritone, you understood why he packs out venues. He opened with the punchy Lovers In A Previous Life and his catchy collaboration with Calvin Harris even sparked a bit of pop dancing from the massive man.
The mid-tempo Pores and skin is extra typical of his earnest ballads stuffed with angsty lyrics, however earlier than that, he took a paper airplane from his son, perched on the facet of the stage and sailed it into the viewers, which was definitely the primary time I’ve seen a performer try this. Time To Dwell and The Proper Approach had been regulation Rag ‘N’ Bone Man tunes earlier than he obtained a bit funky on Hideaway. The gospel tinged ballad Grace was from his platinum-selling album Human, however he mentioned he wasn’t enjoying the title tune then as ‘half of you’ll in all probability fuck off.’
Simply once you thought you could be in for an evening of beautiful mid-tempo tunes Rag ‘n’ Bone Man modified it up with the guitar-led blues rock of Arduous Got here The Rain from his pre-Human days, and mused, “about 7 folks know this tune”. The pop rock of All You Ever Needed had one bloke in a flowery shirt waving his arms manically, and the tiresome drunks behind us had a frenzied bop. The viewers appeared to love this model of Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, which could be a helpful marker for future information.
Introducing the title observe from his newest album, What Do You Consider in?, he sardonically famous that “17 folks purchased it”, which is a disgrace because it was an important tune, as was the heartfelt Anyplace Away From Right here as a backing vocalist took on the elements Pink sang on the only. He’d relaxed by now, telling the viewers, “I don’t have many comfortable songs” earlier than the atypically optimistic Be The Man.
All roads at a Rag ‘n’ Bone Man gig inevitably result in his smash hit breakthrough 2016 hit Human, and as his large voice rang out throughout the 4 enclosed sides of this historic venue, the telephones had been straight up within the air because the devoted obtained what they needed. Human stays an important tune, and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man crammed it stuffed with soul and humanity.
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man bade farewell with one other Calvin Harris hook-up, and Large was an apt approach to finish issues with a giant tune delivered by an enormous of a person who, each time he opened his mouth, confirmed he had a soul to match.
~
You possibly can comply with Rag ‘n’ Bone on Fb and Twitter.
Phrases by Paul Clarke, you may see his creator profile right here.
Photographs by Frank Ralph, you could find Frank at his web site | Instagram| Fb
A Plea From Louder Than Battle
Louder Than Battle is run by a small however devoted unbiased workforce, and we depend on the small amount of cash we generate to maintain the positioning operating easily. Any cash we do get will not be lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to assume and write, or hungry shareholders. We all know instances are robust, and we need to proceed bringing you information on probably the most fascinating releases, the most recent gigs and anything that tickles our fancy. We’re not pushed by revenue, simply pure enthusiasm for a scene that each considered one of us is keen about.
To us, music and tradition are eveything, with out them, our very souls shrivel and die. We don’t cost artists for the publicity we give them and to many, what we do is totally important. Subscribing to considered one of our paid tiers takes only a minute, and every sign-up makes a huge effect, serving to to maintain the flame of unbiased music burning! Please click on the button beneath to assist.
John Robb – Editor in Chief