University of Portsmouth: First Year Diary

October 2017: Part 7- Zara Larsson Concert (with Juliander)

This concert, which was brilliant, was the main reason and excuse for my mum and my auntie to come and visit me for the first time since I came to University. Izzy, one of my friends from back home, also came overfor the concert and I spent the next day with him as well.
Before the concert, I had never been to the Portsmouth Guildhall, although I have gone past it every single day to get to the lectures I need to be at, no matter what direction I was going in. The building's grand impressiveness from the outside is a far cry from what the building looks like from the inside in that, the performance and audience space is a lot smaller than I expected it to be. Although, having to sit at the back in the disabled seating area it meant that I could see more of what was going on than I expected to, which was great. I enjoyed the music, I know that pop music is not for everyone but I find it uplifting and easy to appreciate. That is why Zara Larsson delivered in my opinion, offering an uplifting, experience, always speaking from the heart and connecting with and engaging with the audience on a deep level. The concert was obviously full of highlights because I like all of her songs, but a particular highlight was when she acknowledged the band Clean Bandit, for having her feature on their number one single 'Symphony', And when she sang it putting her heart and soul into every word ,it was a special moment.
In terms of her own songs, it is really difficult to be clear on what the best one was, because they were all memorable experiences, although I do particularly remember 'Ain't my Fault', and the incorporation of a snippet of Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You' in her song 'Don't Let Me Be Yours'.
Overall, the concert was an amazing experience that makes me think that I would like to see Zara Larsson in concert again because I could just tell how exceedingly talented she is, more so live and on her album then on the radio, which is a rare feat to achieve, in terms of vocal range and power, as well as the fact that she is very pretty.
I just want to give a quick mention to her support act, Juliander, as he is at the moment, a very talented, virtually unknown, 20-year-old Swedish singer-songwriter. He has only released two singles so far, 'Same Moon' and 'The One', and I think both songs are brilliant and he is definitely worth having a listen to. He is only going to rise in popularity, and may be in a year or two, he will have his own concert tour, stopping off back at the back at the Portsmouth Guildhall, or elsewhere, which I will definitely go to.
I don't just think that he is a talented performer but I also think that is also very genuine and down-to-earth guy because he signed a photo for me and messaged me back on Facebook to thank me for my support, when I informed him that I enjoyed his performance very much, wished him the best of luck for the future, and said that when I'm given a radio show on the Portsmouth University' student radio station, Victory Radio, hopefully in the New Year, I will be glad to play his songs. I appreciate that personal touch very much which you only really find in artists who are just starting out. He is only starting out to the point that, as Portsmouth was the first of last two Zara Larsson UK tour dates, the only ones that he supported her on, before moving on with her to perform on the whole of the European leg of her tour afterwards. I think the concert I went to in Portsmouth may have been his very first UK show and if this is correct, I am privileged to say that I was there.