Live at the Marquee: Dream come true for Tom Grennan

“What a dream come true.” — From spending childhood holidays in Ireland, to finding his way to music from a career in soccer, to topping the UK charts, Tuesday night’s gig at the Marquee was a milestone moment for singer-songwriter Tom Grennan.

And he made sure to let the crowd know it, recounting his family’s roots in Offaly, memorialising his late cousin, and shouting out friends in attendance.

The final installment of the summer concert series is currently underway on the Monahan Road, where a sizeable crowd braved cloudy skies to see the chart-topper take a trip through hits from his two albums to date, ‘Lighting Matches’ and ‘Evering Road’, as well as live renditions of pop collaborations, including the Chase and Status-penned ‘All Goes Wrong’ and pop radio staple ‘By Your Side’, originally a collaboration with Scottish producer Calvin Harris.

Grennan cut a lean, energetic figure, tearing around stage as a full band held it down, perching on various on-stage risers as LED panels undulated behind him - showing a full recovery from an unprovoked attack in New York in April, with injuries including a ruptured eardrum.

With his upcoming third album in the can, his 2022 touring will bring him around the UK, before heading off on an Australian excursion.

Opening the show was Cork singer-songwriter, Stephanie Rainey and band, returning to the big tent after a life-changing few years over the Covid crisis, from new independent releases like single ‘No Cowboy’, to a recently-debuted slot on RedFM, to the arrival of her first child. “Doesn’t it feel good to be back in place like this?”, she asks during a break from a mix of new and older singles. “It feels good to me.”

Live at the Marquee continued last night with Simply Red, before the current production of Riverdance begins its weekend residency at the venue.