Taking over London’s Omeara as part of BRITs Week in collaboration with War Child, Tom Walker graced us with a magical evening of great music, powered by a genuine pure heart and a good sense of humour.

I’m sure you’re all wondering what do people actually do on 14th of February? Well, we can’t speak for everyone but for a selected few, spending the evening together at a Tom Walker intimate show and supporting a great cause in the meantime sounded like the best date/Valentines idea.

Brought by BRITs Week in collaboration with War Child into the small Omeara room, Tom Walker managed to condense his huge live performance into what he affectionately called ‘An Evening with Tom Walker type thing’…and we couldn’t have said it better. But even with a significantly downsized crew and a severe lack of arena level stage artifice, his voice shined through the entire room from its tiny stage framed by an intricate arcade. Despite the humorous self-deprecating assessment of his ‘sad and depressing songs’, the evening wasn’t short of laughter, funny stories and the most engaged public I’ve ever been part of.

Each song started with a short conversation with the fans, which ended up unveiling an unexpected tale of who or what inspired that song. Mostly, what would seem rather unimportant at a first glance, turned out to catch unimagined proportions in the eyes of the sensible Tom Walker, who somehow managed to look at it through clear lenses and take in its significance with an open heart and mind. And he talked about a lot tonight, from love for music, to unity among people – message which was forever stamped in everyone’s mind through the spontaneous and yet memorable commendation of a ‘Booo’ thrown after mentioning a city’s name among the many he visited while touring.

Putting tonight’s show in perspective with his last year of huge performances in exotic locations, he also talked about what it means to tour and how grateful he is to have lived his childhood dream of travelling the world doing what he loves. However, the often untold part is that all this came at the expense of time spent with his fiancé, family and friends to which he was also grateful for sticking around and supporting and welcoming him back with open arms.

Speaking of which, another key moment of tonight show that I believe will defy time’s passing was when he played a song inspired by one of his mates’ tragedy, while asking everyone to not record or film this. Not only was this a special and intimate piece for him, but he also believes that live shows should give fans a little extra something compared to staying at home listening to a CD. However, I believe he gave us more than just a little extra, he gave us a magical evening of great music sung by an amazing voice, powered by a genuine pure heart and a good sense of humour. The evening ended with Shaking, a party song befitting for ending the Friday evening in high spirits.

“This has been properly amazing, thank you for coming out!”.

Photos: Adriana Vasile