There are only so many singers that can impress you with their voice alone. You know the ones; they can hit those Mariah Carey high notes (when sadly Mariah can’t herself anymore), and they belt out a ballad as powerfully as Whitney. But those singers are rare today. However, one exception is Leona Lewis. So when she came to Manchester last night it was the perfect excuse to witness such greatness.

Leona is individual in that her talent can’t be questioned. Her voice is ridiculously good, like on another planet good. No surprise then that the Bridgewater Hall saw a full audience come out to the third stop on her ‘I Am Tour’. Her fans came in all shapes and sizes, from the more mature admirer to young girls just discovering her talent.

Leona arrived on stage to a smoky, thunderous intro setting the scene for the defiant opener ‘I Am’ taken from the album of the same name that was released last September. It’s the first album she’s released since her publicized departure from record label SyCo. Leona wanted to take us on a personal journey through her new music. She broke the show up with voice interludes expressing her new lease on life after going through ‘ups and downs and coming out the other side stronger’.

Leona had a great rapport with her backing singers who helped to propel her voice into the stratosphere on big tracks like ‘Thunder’ and ‘Better In Time’. She chose to get some of the older hits out of the way at the start of the show. An acoustic mini set of ‘Footprints in the Sand’ and ‘A Moment Like This’ proved Leona could alter her voice to the mood making it soft and light. Whereas on huge tracks like ‘Bleeding Love’ the full force, maximum impact, Leona power vocals came out to play reminding the audience what an A* singer she really is. She got the audience up on their feet with the upbeat stomper ‘Fire Under My Feet’ the lead single from ‘I Am’.

The set list was nicely decorated with the odd cover version. From an acoustic rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ to Sam Smiths ‘Stay With Me’, and oddly enough opera classic ‘Ave Maria’, the latter saw her mighty vocals literally raise the roof of the hall.

They say save the best until last. Which is why it wasn’t until she belted out old fan favourite ‘Run’ that the night truly peaked. Leona showed all the Goulding’s and Glynne’s who’s boss when she let rip right at the end, like a real superstar does. Making me think that Leona isn’t just a singer – but a survivor.

Photos by Stephen Farrell 

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