Shayne gets ‘up close and personal’ at the Waterfront

The former X Factor winner spent two days in the city, visiting the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children while he was here, as he prepared for his first gig in Belfast in three years.

Ably supported by Northern Irish singer Jason Clarke - a sure star of the future - Shayne brought all the hits and some brand new tracks from his latest offering ‘Obsession’, as chosen by his fans on Twitter. Displaying a superb vocal talent that proves why he won the nation’s hearts in 2005, Shayne performed in a very raw, stripped down setting - no fanfare, no fireworks, just a live band behind him - and was much better for it.

Shaking off the shackles of the X Factor and the record company who have badly let a talent like Shayne down, the singer looked like a true artist.

He had the crowd on their feet the entire night as they sang along with hits such as ‘If That’s OK With You’, ‘Breathless’, ‘No U Hang Up’, ‘Stand By Your Side’, ‘Melt the Snow’, as well as a fantastic rendition of Bruno Mars’ ‘Just the Way You Are’.

The local crowd got further into the party spirit with a series of ‘Irish’ hits as the Manchester-born Irishman went back to his roots with performances of Aslan’s ‘Crazy World’, Foster and Allen’s ‘When You Were Sweet Sixteen’ and The Saw Doctors’ ‘I Useta Lover’, that had the fans clapping along and stamping their feet, as if it was St. Patrick’s Day once again.

Shayne also performed several new tracks from his latest album including the title track ‘Obsession’, the fantastic ‘Close To Close’, a sexy R’n’B enthused pop track and the wonderful ‘Waiting in the Wings’, written by Shayne himself.

Cries of ‘We want more’ rang around the Waterfront Hall as the night came to a close and Shayne duly obliged with an encore of the superb ‘No Promises’ and his first single ‘That’s My Goal’.

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