Dermot Kennedy
The ‘Sonder’ Tour
Support Acts: Noah Kahan
Resorts World Arena – Birmingham
Birmingham, UK
13th April 2023
Photos by: Dan Rose
Words by: Olivia Rose
On 13th April, Dermot Kennedy blew the roof off of Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena as he stunned a sold out crowd of over 15,000 people. From busking on Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland to selling out arenas worldwide, Dermot’s well-deserved success speaks for itself.
Setting a beautiful tone for the evening, American folk-pop singer-songwriter Noah Kahan opened the show with infectiously high energy, and it was clear to see that hundreds, if not thousands, of fans were also listeners of Noah as they relayed his lyrics back to him during his set.
Taking to the stage at around 9pm, the County Dublin-born artist was joined by his accompanying band (whom he effortlessly introduced towards the end of the show), which comprised of Elize Kellman and James Bradshaw on backing vocals, Benjamin Leuenberger on keys, Kieran Jones on bass and Micheál Quinn on drums. The entire band were met with rapturous applause, after they were introduced, and this was incredibly well-deserved as they all played their respective instruments tremendously. Dermot’s setlist consisted of a wonderful mix of his older classics such as ‘Outnumbered’ and ‘Power Over Me’, as well as awe-inspiring tracks from his newest record, such as ‘Innocence and Sadness,’ which he stunningly sang as he played solo on piano and ‘Something to Someone’ which the crowd gracefully sang along with him. It was explicit to see the amount of careful thought, extensive planning, genuine heart and soul that had gone into crafting the complementing visuals for the concert as, from beginning to end, the screens behind Dermot and his band adorned vibrantly colourful and eye-catching images and words which possessed a glitching effect.
The title of Dermot’s second album ‘Sonder’, defined as the “realisation that each passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own,” was an incredibly apt sentiment for the show as I witnessed thousands of people, from thousands of different walks of life, coming together to support an incredible artist that they love. Love was so strong and powerful in the enormous room that night that screams of “I love you Dermot” could be heard multiple times from the crowd, in between songs, which made the Irish singer smile and laugh in response. Displaying his ever-humble persona, Dermot said “it’s good to see you, thank you so much for being here” the very first time he spoke to the crowd on the night. Throughout the show, the singer-songwriter interacted with the crowd often and also further expressed his gratitude to the thousands when he said: “I remember last time we were here, there were not this many people, so I wanna say thank you so much for supporting this music.”
This was Dan’s fourth time seeing Dermot live and, in his opinion, was the best show he’s been to so far! He had an enormous pleasure photographing the entire show from beginning to end, and wishes to thank Dermot’s team for kindly allowing this. It was his first time being able to photograph an entire gig and he’s extremely grateful that the opportunity arose at one of his favourite artist’s concerts. To Dan, ‘Sonder’ is an absolute masterpiece and is still played heavily on rotation all these months later.
Overall, Dermot’s Birmingham show was both audibly and visually breathtaking and it is, without a doubt, still the beginning of an extraordinary journey for the Irish singer as he embarks on the American leg of his sought after tour next month.
