Lewis Capaldi – Live Review – Roundhay Park, Leeds
By David Schuster, July 2026
The American Express presents Roundhay Festival is a welcome return of live music to a location that’s ideally suited to large outdoor concerts. Its huge bowl, dug out by Napoleonic war veterans in the early 1800s, slopes slightly towards the park’s largest lake. The main stage occupies the lower end, so the entire 70,000 capacity crowd tonight have a great view. It’s perhaps for this reason that the park has previously played host to musical colossi like The Rolling Stones, Genesis, U2, and tonight, one softly spoken Scotsman.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Lewis Capaldi is the greatest UK singer songwriter of this millennium, so far. He’s had six number one singles, matching the likes of legendary names like Lady Gaga, Queen and Blondie. Whilst ‘Someone You Loved’ is the UK’s most streamed track of all time and, if that wasn’t enough, it’s spent the longest time in our top ten singles chart for a British artist. Not bad for someone who celebrates his 30th birthday this year.
“Crowd-pleasing”
There’s an endearing contrast between those statistics and the man behind them. Dressed more for a night in the pub than in the spotlight, in shirt and slacks, he thanks us for making the effort to come along and stand in the drizzle of a (sadly) typical July evening. Then he gets on with the music, wisely starting with the upbeat ‘Hollywood’, a crowd-pleasing number that gets people singing along, hands waving in the air straight away. Unfortunately, there’s clearly a technical issue with his earpiece, but no-one panics. At the end, he apologises, pops off stage for a couple of minutes, and returns quickly with it sorted out.
After a couple more tracks, ‘Grace’ and ‘Heavenly Kind of State of Mind’, he gives us an insight into the things that understandably trouble any successful artist: “You had me worried there Leeds.” He says, with a grin, adding an expletive to underline his point. “Every other venue sold out pretty quickly. You were a bit slow out of the gates. At one point I thought I’d be performing to three people! I’m glad you decided to come along!”. He needn’t have worried, it’s quite clear from the crowd reaction that he’s still well-loved. He’s not just someone that we used to… yeah, well, you get it.
image: jcrispinphoto
“Heartfelt”
It’s not the singer songwriter’s first time in Leeds by any means, though it is a notable return. Back in 2017, less than ten years ago, he played Oporto, an intimate bar venue for 120 or so people. Just two years later he was back, this time playing this very same park as support to Ed Sheeran. It was a meteoric rise to fame that came at a well documented cost to his mental health, resulting in an on-stage, and very public, breakdown at Glastonbury 2023. Thankfully, it’s something that he’s now able to talk and, refreshingly, joke about.
Taking a seat at the piano to right of stage, he introduces the next number with the words, “This is something I wrote at the start of my recovery.” There’s a roar of sympathy and understanding from the crowd. “Err. Thanks for cheering my darkest days”, he comments wryly. He then gives us a heartfelt insight into how at times he thought that he’d never be able to perform live again. Thankfully, he reassures us that it’s a joy to him to be back. Looking to the future, he teases the possibility of a new album next year. “Anyway”, he says returning to irony and starting to play ‘The Day That I Die’, “here’s a song about my death.”
The three days of the American Express presents Roundhay Festival have been a welcome boost for Leeds which, like every other British city at the moment, needs events such as this to help lift the sprits during these difficult economic times. Friday saw another huge star, Pitbull take to the stage and on Sunday the venue will welcome the Halle Orchestra, with special guest Alfie Boe, for an afternoon of cinematic classics, introduced by Myleene Klass. It’s to be hoped that this can become an annual event.
“Triumphant”
Our Saturday night crowd were treated to a varied and hit packed set. Other highlights were ‘Bruises’, in which Freddy Sheed’s awesome kick bass drum sound was comparable to the late, great John Bonham, and ‘Pointless’. This latter deals with falling in love, and centring everything on that one, special person. Its lyrics highlight Capaldi’s genius in being able to capture relatable human experiences into just a few words: “Of all the dreams I’m chasing, there’s only one I choose. Everything is pointless without you.” But, just in case it was all getting too serious, he finishes with a deliberately badly played comedy pastiche of an electric guitar hero and jokes, “Sometimes you just have to rock out and really shred that axe.”
All too soon, the Glaswegian star introduces ‘Forget Me’, as the last song of the main set, reassuring us that, “You know I’ll be back in five minutes.” True to his word, he returns for an encore of just two numbers, cut slightly short, I suspect, because of the time lost to the issue with his earpiece at the start of the evening. ‘Survive’, which was his triumphant return single in 2025 and then the finale, of course, his greatest hit so far, ‘Someone You Loved’. It’s fully dark now and as thousands of mobile phone lights float like fireflies around the bowl of Roundhay Park, fireworks match the end of a sparkling performance.
All images Sophia J Carey, unless credited otherwise
David Schuster describes himself as an “adventurer, collector, musician and writer. Not necessarily in that order.” Growing up west of the Pennine hills of the UK and living his adult life east of them, he’s inclined to think that the Wars of the Roses were a mistake. David loves discovering new bands and musicians and is happiest listening to live music. He has travelled extensively in the UK and is fascinated by the variety, history and landscapes of the thousands of islands that comprise the British Isles. David is always reassured when online shops confirm that he’s not a robot.
