Review: Olly Murs, Glasgow SECC

THIS was blockbuster entertainment, and like any good populist Hollywood epic it was a series of stagey spectacles held together by flimsy filler.

The best parts all involved other people’s songs – Madness’ It Must Be Love and One Step Beyond played for added Mockney knees-up value; a beatboxed Billie Jean (he’s a great moonwalker, as it happens); a surprisingly funk-laden James Brown medley – but there was precious little real emotional connection.

Only when Murs made one of his regular forays to the back of the hall, appearing from the seated stands during Busy or via a descending catwalk while he sang the dire, Muppets-soundtracking Dance With Me Tonight, was there a frisson in the air as he made eye contact with adoring fans to whom he’d been a speck on the stage moments before.

But songs like the Johnny Hates Jazz-recalling Oh My Goodness or the featherweight reggae of Please Don’t Let Me Go surely won’t sustain him when the crushes have worn off.

Rating: **