By Valeria Gil
Staff Writer
DALLAS – As fans waited to greet George Ezra, you could sense the anticipation from the moment you stepped in line to enter the venue. Not expecting that much of a crowd, I arrived at 6 p.m., the concert starting at 7 p.m., and to my surprise I was greeted by a line that went around the corner.
The minute you stepped into the House of Blues on Sunday night, your ears were flooded with the question, “Who’s the opening act?” The crowd was definitely confused when a young girl stepped onto the stage, as the room was filled with fluorescent pink lights.
From the moment she stepped into the light, you knew her set was going to be special. After her first song, “Hangover”, she introduced herself as Charlotte OC (Charlotte O’Connor). By the end of O’Connor’s last song, you could tell attendees were pleased with the act as they said, “I’m so getting her album when I get home,” to their friends and acquaintances.
Minutes later, Ezra’s last name lit up on the stage and the music and screams started. Ezra stepped out onto the stage with a guitar in his hands and a shy, but big smile on his face. The tune to “Cassy O’” began, followed with heads bobbing to the beat.
Throughout the show Ezra would speak about his next song, subtly throwing in the name, making fans scream. Songs later, Ezra’s tone shifted as he spoke to attendees about the next song he would sing.
“Now before I sing this song, I gotta tell you something,” Ezra said. “I didn’t write this song. I wish I had, but I didn’t.”
A sweet melody traveled through everyone’s ears as Ezra began to play, “Girl From The North Country” by Bob Dylan.
Half the album later, Ezra had an anecdote to tell fans about the next song.
“There’s these trains you can take, that go all over Europe,” Ezra said. “So you could go anywhere you want. You could spend the whole month in one town or you can try and cram in as many cities as possible. I took a notebook so I would write down everything that I saw and I would take a note of everybody that I met and then when I got home I would write songs. One of the cities I visited was Barcelona.”
That’s when the crowd went wild as Ezra began to play fan favorite, “Barcelona.”
The night would not be complete without Ezra playing his best selling song, “Budapest.” Continuing from his previous anecdote he said, “During my journey, I also visited this place called Budapest.” Screams echoed as he began singing the lyrics, “My house in Budapest.
My, my hidden treasure chest.”
Soon enough it was time for Ezra to get off the stage, earning cries from the crowd below and above. Of course, it is not a concert if the crowd does not start chanting, “Encore! Encore! Encore!”
And it is not a real concert if the artist does not come out to grant their fan’s last wish. Ezra came out once again, sporting a new guitar and started off his encore with, “Blind Man in Amsterdam.”
The British lad ended his night in Dallas with a spectacular light show while performing his last song of the night, “Did You Hear The Rain”, which caused the crowd to erupt with thrill.
His concert in Dallas was the fourth to last show in the United States, before he headed back to Europe.
When being interviewed by NPR music, Ezra said, “I always say, if this is the only album I get to release, so be it,” Ezra said. “I’ve had the best time. I’ll continue writing and creating. If people get to hear it, then that’s amazing. I don’t want people to think that I don’t love this, I do.”
From the outcome of this concert, we’ll have Ezra back in Dallas singing new songs in no time.
