‘A TRULY TRANSFORMATional TOUR’ - LOYLE CARNER LIVE REVIEW
2025 has been a seminal year for one of the UK’s brightest (and often referred to as nicest) hip-hop stars, Loyle Carner. Mere days after releasing his latest album hopefully!, the South London singer gave a stellar performance on Glastonbury’s Other Stage, before flying out to Oslo to begin the European leg of his world tour. He then spent the entirety of November back in the UK playing sold out shows almost nightly, in larger venues than ever before, including multiple night residences at London’s O2 Academy Brixton and Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse.
With latest album hopefully! Loyle Carner enters a transitional period, in both his life and his music. 2024 saw the well-loved wordsmith become a father for the 2nd time, and hopefully!, which was released in June, is a true reflection of this slower, more measured, and contemplative chapter in his life. From its lyrical content, to the album’s artwork, hopefully! explores the realities of playing the role of the father and the artist simultaneously, in the fast paced and often scary world we find ourselves in. The tour’s poster – an out of focus image of his child’s hand lovingly resting on his head makes a powerful statement, ‘this is who I do it for now, this is my focus’.
hopefully! Tour Poster - Source: Press
The anger and attitude of 2022’s Hugo seems to have subdued in this new period. Instead hopefully! sees Loyle Carner’s confessional storytelling take a more meandering, contemplative form, whilst still being delivered with the same frank honesty that has become his signature. With a new sound and new perspective comes a new live show, and we decided to check out this latest album cycle ourselves, when LC’s world tour took a stop in Manchester.
One thing that Loyle Carner is really great at is playing with the theatrical limits of his live performance, and from the outset the show felt like the rapper’s two different personas competing and contrasting with each other.
Unlike many other rappers, which have become known for making bold and brash entrances, akin to the ring walks of professional boxers, on the hopefully! tour Loyle Carner takes a softer, and more subdued approach. Opening his set with the powerfully poignant ‘all I need’ and ‘in my mind’, the open and airy Victoria Warehouse took on the appearance of a smoky jazz club, with the singer and his band silhouetted by the spotlights.
Photo: Holly Pimlott
The sultry saxophone intro to ‘Ain’t Nothing Changed’ lulled the crowd into thinking this would be the ambiance for the entire show, before a sudden burst of energy and change in tempo was met by appreciative roars. As he delved into the first verse, which was accompanied by an impressive display of bright orange lighting, Loyle Carner gave a wry smile, as if almost to say “got ya”.
Keeping the energy high the band went straight into hit single ‘Yesterday’, with the crowd belting out “Peace, peace peace” in time with the now iconic opening line.
Smiling from ear to ear he addressed his fans, “This is my favorite place in the world for a show you know” before playing ‘Damselfly’, a song which was recorded with Tom Misch, although Mr Misch himself didn’t make an appearance- (we can all dream).
The rest of the set followed the same format; big, bright, bolshy renditions of his older tracks, interspersed with quieter, moodier yet vulnerable performances of hopefully!’s new track listing. From the introspective ‘horcrux’ to the attitude filled ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’ Carner displayed his true talent for taking his audiences on an emotional journey - swinging from anger, to sadness, to explicable joy, in a manner that mirrors our modern consciousness so well that you can’t help but stand enthralled.
An artist that never shies away from talking about some of life’s most complex issues, Carner took a moment to tell his fans it’s okay to cry, delivering an uplifting message before playing ‘Loose Ends’ from 2019’s Not Waving, But Drowning, an album that explores mental health and societal pressures.
Photo: Holly Pimlott
His speech before the encore further displayed why he regarded as one of modern hip-hop’s most relatable stars. “We made an album this year called hopefully!, and I’m very proud of it. We made the album while we were on tour, and my kids are usually with me on tour or when I’m in the studio.” he said, before calling out negative figures in the mainstream media, the likes of Nigel Farage and Andrew Tate, from whom Carner’s own rhetoric is so far removed.
“When I look at my kids all I see is the infectious possibility of happiness and hope.” he continued, before dedicating ‘about time’ to his son.
Photo: Holly Pimlott
A figure who likes to play with the usual boundaries of the modern rap performance, Carner reappeared after the encore alone and spotlighted, where he recited a moving spoken word poem. Bringing the night to an end with the low-fi piano ballad, ‘A Lasting Place’, he sent his fans away into the night with a parting lullaby.
The hopefully! tour recalibrates Loyle Carner as an artist, a platform where he can play the role of profound political and societal commentator, and polite and pensive parent; his work and show all the better for it. Although the artist himself has mastered this beautifully, it did feel like the venue let him down slightly. The lack of screens meant at times it was harder to feel fully immersed in the quieter songs, the size of the venue making it difficult for those beyond the front row to see the raw emotion in the performer’s face – something that his new album tracks definitely would have benefitted from.
A tour and an artist that would be more than at home in an arena, after selling out 3 nights in a row, one thing is sure; when Loyle Carner next returns to Manchester, only the city’s biggest venues should be in his sights.
To keep up to date with Loyle Carner head to: https://loylecarner.com/.