As you enter den Atelier on a cold Tuesday evening, the first thing you see is the merch stand with a T-shirt hanging on the wall. “Who the f**k is Jess Glynne?”, asks the front of it while the answer can be found printed on the back. “British female with the most number 1 singles”. All. Seven. Of them. It’s not that Jess Glynne really needs introductions, as the achievement is obviously undisputed, however there is that aura of mystery surrounding Jess, and a certain level of, say, “shyness” in her behaviour, even when she’s on the stage performing.
The Luxembourgish concert was the second last of her current “JESS: IN EUROPE TOUR” which is promoting her latest album, simply called “JESS”, released in April this year. A mix of mainstream hits moments with more introspective tunes generated what I would call “magic” during this emotional performance, but I will get into that in more detail a bit later.
Jess Glynne is most widely known for her collaborations on extremely successful songs released over the last decade of her career. Notably with Clean Bandit, as well as with Macklemore and Dan Caplen. But it was those more introspective, calmer moments that I think a lot of people in the audience will cherish the most when looking back at that evening. And that’s because, despite the alleged “shyness”, Jess perfectly knows how to connect with her fans, and how to create a shared experience that will last beyond a 90-minute-long performance.
With the arrangements mostly oscillating around R&B and soul, with a touch of occasional jazzy moments, and with the live band behind her, Jess shared a selection of songs from across all her albums. My personal highlights would be the swaying “Silly Me”, “Thursday” and the super energetic “Friend Of Mine”. Yet it was “Take Me Home” that did the final trick. With a goosebumps-inducing performance of this song, I truly believe everyone in the audience shared the same experience. An uplifting explosion of love, joy and incredible positivity. And when you have your own husband whispering the song’s lyrics into your ear at that same moment, you really feel that the true magic has just been created.
The beauty of “Take Me Home” goes beyond all of the above, though, being the final accumulation of the most important emotion which was slowly building up during the entire concert. The word to call it, is “hope”. Pure, crystal clear hope, shining in the soul of every concert-goer who got to feel it at the same time. And fun, as the whole thing would not be complete without “Rather Be” and “Hold My Hand”, which were the closing numbers.
So, yes, Jess Glynne, here’s a ton of gratitude going your way for everything you had done with us last night. It will not be forgotten. Please come back soon, we miss you already.
Jess Glynne, JESS: IN EUROPE TOUR, live at den Atelier, 26th November 2024
Photo: my phone
Glad to hear you enjoyed the show. 😊