Heartbreak anthems and crude humour - Lewis Capaldi live in Exeter

‘Exeter let’s f*****g go’ – These were the first words of Lewis Capaldi at his Exeter gig which he proclaimed whilst opening the show with ‘Forget Me,’ just one of the hits in the Scottish singers strong catalogue of heartbreak anthems which throughout the night were juxtaposed with his often rude and self-deprecating sense of humour.

On the final night of his UK tour, Capaldi performed at the Westpoint Centre in Exeter, a building that could only compare to a massive, empty warehouse which didn’t take long to fill up with around 7,500 people. The singer proclaimed: ‘You know what they say about Thursday nights in Exeter,’ and after a bit of thought he finished the sentence ‘erm, I don’t know what they say to be honest.’

In unsurprisingly typical Lewis Capaldi style, the star rocked up on stage in a casual, white two-piece ensemble, consisting of jogging bottoms and a t-shirt reflecting his extremely down to earth personality. This was particularly enhanced by a selection of moments throughout the gig when the star left it to the audience to take over a song - his appreciation of his fans was clearly visible. What’s not to love about this man – humble, funny and one powerful voice.

Three songs in, it was time for Lost on You, and Capaldi belted out the lyrics, all the way until the end. He took a small pause during the last verse and the audience took over. A heart-warming moment, or at least most would think until the inner-comedian in Capaldi took over as he announced: ‘Shh, shut the f**k up. And I decide when these songs f*****g end.’

During a performance of ‘Bruises,’ Capaldi failed to hit the note which resulted in a voice crack, making him giggle. And although the audience continued singing he was keen to rectify his mistake announcing: ‘let’s start again.’ Which he did effortlessly – before breaking into another fit of giggles.

Support came from 18-year-old Elle Coves. With a very graceful stage presence and sweet persona, the singer-songwriter performed a handful of her own songs - none of which have been released yet, although she does plan on releasing new music soon, as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark.

The crowd were treated to a performance of How I’m Feeling Now, during the encore, a song from the singer’s upcoming album Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, the song explores themes of his own mental health with open and honest lyrics ‘Suppose I thought that, by this moment, I would have it figured out. But instead, I tend to spend my days consumed by seeds of doubt.’ And, ‘I'm always trapped inside my f*****g head.’ A sombre song with the effect of sending shivers down your spine as a veil is lifted from his ‘funny-man’ persona.

This was swiftly followed by a much-anticipated performance of Someone You Loved, a second burst of confetti and an arena full of fans singing their hearts out. The sincerity of Capaldi’s voice had the whole venue under his spell as he went from heart wrenching hits to crude, tongue-in-cheek humour including following fans requests to ‘show us your tits’ and ‘show us your mangina.’ An artist with a repertoire of serious and beautiful songs and a stage presence which is anything but.