Up-and-coming artist Ruel, lesser-known in the UK than in his homeland of Australia, opened Mabel’s Birmingham Institute show with a couple of well-crafted covers alongside his impressive collection of originals. Having already been a big fan, I was excited to see if his powerful vocals transferred well to a live environment. Spoiler: they did.

He opened with an acapella cover of Alessia Cara’s hit ‘Here’, immediately showing why he deserved his place on the stage. An acoustic performance of Billie Eilish’s ‘bellyache’, with Ruel playing the guitar, again showed how any song he touches can be made more magical by his soulful vocals. 

I’m not sure how many members of the audience knew Ruel prior to his supporting performance, but he certainly seemed to have an impact. Without any prompting, during the emotional ‘Say’, phone torches were illuminated and people responded enthusiastically to his request for us to sing along to ‘Don’t Tell Me’. Performances of arguably his most famous songs, ‘Don’t Tell Me’ and ‘Younger’, brought his set to a close. Having experienced my fair share of underwhelming support acts, Ruel’s set was more than a pleasant surprise. I have no doubt Ruel gained a fair few fans that night, and it solidified my admiration of the 16-year-old Aussie. Having recently won the Best Breakthrough Artist award at the ARIAs, he’s definitely one to watch in 2019. 

The crowd was sufficiently warmed up by the time Mabel burst onto the stage for opening song ‘One Shot’, armed with two backing dancers and a mint green mesh robe, with matching jogging bottoms. Her speeches felt more genuine than many artists I’ve seen before, talking candidly about being ill and managing to sound authentic and unrehearsed. Mabel’s stage presence felt stronger than expected for an artist with only one album, keeping the momentum up through the slower-paced songs too. In fact, her and Ruel are a testament to the new generation of artists, for whom age and experience is not a part of their brand – it hardly matters how young they are when they’re both that bloody brilliant. 

The dancers were mesmerising and captured the feel-good vibes of much of the setlist. Mabel would join in at times, not taking herself too seriously but still managing to be effortlessly cool. I can’t say the same for myself on a Saturday night. And good things seemed to come in twos for Mabel’s set, with a duo of backing dancers complimenting the Swedish songstress’s vocals perfectly without overshadowing her. The strength of Mabel’s voice and her ability to control it through extensive dance routines was impressive, keeping the energy of the set high without compromising the musical experience. It was evident that I wasn’t the only one enjoying it, with the crowd never failing to tire from their dancing and singing-along. 

A particular highlight was her cover of classic RnB hit, ‘So Sick’ by Ne-Yo. Though many of the younger audience members won’t have recognised the tune, it was evident millennials and older Gen-Zs in the audience were adoring it (myself included). During ‘Fine Line’, which was her ‘final song’, Mabel also sang Not3s’ rap, demonstrating her flawless vocals and adaptability. The encore performance of ‘Finders Keepers’ certainly ended her set with a bang and left a buzz in the air long after the hypothetical curtain dropped.