Lewis Capaldi's "Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent" Tour @ Open Air Theater

The CalCoast Open Air Theater ("The OAT" as the locals like to call it) was the setting for Thursday evenings concert by none other than LEWIS CAPALDI. The Scottish singer songwriter that has taken the radio waves and the hearts of America by storm, brought the "Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent" tour (what a mouthful!) to San Diego and a sold out audience.

Lewis is nothing if not a true entertainer. Not only does he have the ability to take listeners on an emotional roller-coaster with any number of his ballads, but he also has the ability to make the crowds laugh whole-heartedly as well. So well in fact that if he ever decided to stop making music (which let's hope he NEVER does), he could easily start a stand-up career that would keep the fans coming back every time. Several times during the show he would end up chuckling through a chorus due to someone "singing" along. I use "singing" lightly as it was more mangling the chorus, but hey that's why he gets paid the big bucks and we pay to see him...not the other way around.

Every now and then he would lovingly tell the crowd to "shhhhhut the fuck up" when he was trying to build into a touching moment of a song. It was to little avail though because most concert goers seem to think they should be up on stage and will do most anything to make themselves seen/heard. Case in point, there was one patron who was repeatedly yelling "SCOTLAND FOREVER!!" hoping to be heard by Mr. Capaldi only to be to to "shut up" by another concert goer. After about the 5th or 6th time he yelled it I could definitely understand why.

Now unless you are one of the very few people that don't have tiktok, most have seen the viral sensation that is "Wish You The Best" off the 2023 release of which this tour was named.

If you haven't yet seen the video allow me to give you a quick synopsis...

Years after the Mrs. Norris incident at Hogwarts, Groundskeeper Filch has left the Wizarding World to pursue a career in the postal service. He, alongside his beloved K-9 companion Willow, deliver the mail by bicycle while Willow sits patiently in the basket enjoying the breeze as they go door to door. One evening Mr. Filch falls ill and passes away leaving Willow to sadly mourn day in and day out, rain or shine until one day a young man takes him in and cares for him till his final days to which the video ends as he places Willow's collar upon his dear friend's humble headstone and the two are once again reunited in the great beyond. (You may begin crying hysterically now...) This heartbreaking song has since sent the internet into a frenzy of crying "react" videos. As Lewis put it “A lot of people filmed their children doing it. I wanted to go viral on TikTok for so long, I never thought I’d do it by traumatizing children. … I have a mortgage to pay, so you better cry, fucking children!” the roar of laughter that echoed through the brisk night air was amazing! Apparently, most of us that were in attendance are slightly twisted because "normal" folks might not find the tears of kids funny...I did though...mostly because it was over a video meant to evoke an emotional response and not something actually terrible. I mean I said most of us were twisted...NOT MONSTERS! So please, no angry letters or "cancel" threats because it was PURELY A JOKE! To add to the sadness factor Lewis Capaldi had the utter audacity to ask if there were people in the crowd that hadn't seen the video. As a show of hands went up, he let us know that we were all in "luck" because he was going to play it for EVERYONE to see. As he laughed maniacally, the video played above him on the screens as he serenaded the now crying crowd. I also had to take a moment and compose myself as well. After teasing the crowd with an appearance by special guest Shawn Mendez during his performance of "Pointless" , Lewis finished his set with a beautiful performance "Hold Me While You Wait" from 2019's "Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent" before heading offstage and getting everyone all riled up for the 2 song encore. That was a doozy to say the least! Lewis came back to the stage in true comedic fashion...3 times! He ran across the stage 3 times, each time bringing more loud roars of laughter to the audience. This would prove to be needed as what would happen next...well...that was not so funny. The first song "How I'm Feeling Now" from his newest album went off absolutely perfect. It pulled at the heartstrings of everyone like we all new it was supposed to...then the craziness happened! There was a small commotion on the main floor which caused Lewis to come to the foot of the stage to ask if everything was alright. Unfortunately Ilit was not! One of the concert-goers collapsed causing a 15ish minute pause to the evening. As medics and security did everything they could to help, Lewis excused himself from the stage realizing that the moment would be better served if those involved could concentrate on the situation at hand with out him being on stage. The fact that he took himself out of the equation and stopped the show instead of pushing forward showed not only the caliber of performer he is, but also the type of human, which is definitely one of quality. A rarity these days... After the individual was rolled out on a stretcher to be better taken care of, Lewis reappeared ready to play his final song of the evening, "Someone You Loved". As his voice filled the O.A.T. for the final time, Lewis Capaldi said his goodbyes to cheers that echoed across the night sky. I personally have not been to a concert so moving, so beautiful, yet so funny and it was truly an honor to see him perform. If you haven't had the opportunity to see him in concert yet, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! I, as a huge music snob, can't say enough (clearly by the length of this review) about how incredible of a show this was, and I hope that I get the chance to see him again because WOW!