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Calum Scott
Forum Melbourne
31 January 2025
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Josh Hannan opens the show solo with his acoustic guitar in hand showcasing his incredible vocal range and emotional depth to leave a lasting impression on the audience.
His of folk, rock, and indie style with rich melodic compositions and emotional depth draws us in to captivate our attention with heartfelt lyrics and memorable melodies. He shares a few new songs and a beautiful cover of Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Before You Go.’
Tonight is the last ever ‘Songbook So Far’ tour show for Calum Scott. “We’re going to take you on a journey through my first album, second album and a little sprinkle of my third album. Are we ready to dance and be very much depressed for the rest of the night?” he jokes.
His powerful, soulful voice with an emotional and genuine connection with the audience creates an unforgettable experience for everyone in attendance for the magical evening.
The setlist includes fan favourites including ‘Lighthouse,’ ‘Rise,’ and ‘Biblical’ up front in what he calls “the crying corner” of the show with songs that he’s handpicked to resonate with fans the most.
“These songs have helped me and gone on to help other people. The first song is a song that helped me identify and accept who I was growing up as I felt it quite difficult accepting who I was and now I’m prouder than I’ve ever been to be who I am – a gay Yorkshire man. This song helped me accept myself and I’m so grateful to it because it helped me unlock a part of me that I never knew I could achieve and what it’s gone on to do with other people is just magical. He continues with his poignant anthem, ‘No Matter What.’
The crying corner continues with a touching cover of Greg Holden’s ‘Boys in the Street.’ “This is a very tragic and beautiful song. I was shown it by a friend of mine who was writing with me who thought it would resonate with me, and it did. I hope that even if you can’t relate to the storyline that you can at least relate to the compassion,” he asks.
After two emotionally heavy songs back-to-back, he elevatesus slightly out of the crying corner but still keeping the mood very emotional with a track called ‘Flaws.’ “This song is inspired by my sister. Ninety-nine percent of the things I write are inspired by things I’ve been through or things that my closest people have. My sister was the one who discovered I had a singing voice from listening from my bedroom door when I thought she was out, and she entered me into a singing competition and just didn’t tell me. I tried to escape out a bathroom window but ended up going on stage and that has led me right up to this moment,” Scott reveals.
“One thing I hold so very dear to me in this business is honesty and in my songwriting that’s all I’ve done. I’ve been as transparent as I can possibly be because it helps me and writing music is a therapy for me. I’m written very honestly about my sexuality and struggles with mental health,” he discloses.
Next, he shares one of the most personal songs he’s ever written, which is a hidden track on his vinyl release of his ‘Bridges’ album called ‘Father.’ He struggles to hold back tears as he powers through the raw and emotional song.
He gets us out of the crying corner to sing a song about his ex-called ‘If You Ever Change your Mind’, his most recent single ‘My World’ from his upcoming third album and a sneak peak snippet of an unreleased song set to be his next single.
He turns the volume up with a string of up-tempo songs including ‘Roots,’ and dance collaborations with Lost Frequencies ‘Where Are You Now’ and ‘Whistle’ with Jax Jones.
He returns with an encore to sing his favourite song ‘You Are The Reason.’ “This song is just a simple message of love from one person to another. I think it’s because it transcends language. Every corner of the world I sing it people sing it back to me and I’m honoured that I have a song in my repertoire that does this,” he exclaims.
“I used to dream of standing on stages and singing songs that I’ve written to amazing audiences like these. My dreams have literally come true because of every single one of you who have followed me on my journey that’s been almost 10 years since I released my version of this song and it wouldn’t be the ‘Songbook So Far’ tour if I didn’t sing the song that started everything,” says Scott. He dedicates his iconic cover of Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’ to anyone who has followed his journey from the beginning of Britain’s Got Talent to now.
Words by Michael Prebeg
Photos by Monique Pizzica
