Lewis Capaldi is blowing up as pop's next big thing.
In April, the Scottish singer-songwriter sold out eight U.K. arena shows for 2020 even though he hadn't yet released his debut album.
Released in May, his debut, "Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent," has been the best-selling album in the U.K. this year, and his single, "Someone You Loved," is No. 3 in the States on Billboard's Hot 100.
Not surprisingly, Capaldi's Twin Cities debut Thursday at First Avenue sold out in a flash. Young women screamed their love for him, sang along on nearly every song, and even serenaded him with "Happy Birthday" (he turns 23 on Monday) after one front-row fan handed him a card signed by five women (one named Maddy, another Maddie, he pointed out, as he read the card).
The round-faced, tousled haired Capaldi was a playful, cheeky presence (can't you tell from the album title?) who looked like a bloke at the corner pub, not the U.K.'s hottest new rock star.
Even though it was sometimes difficult to decipher what the fast-talking singer with the deep Scottish lilt was saying, he was very chatty and sometimes silly between songs. He put on a red bra tossed onstage, imitated screaming fans and conversed with individual clubgoers (including the 8-year-old Lucy to whom he gave a Frisbee and Grace, who asked to come onstage to sing with him).
Musically, Capaldi impressed as a cross between Sam Smith and Coldplay's Chris Martin with Ed Sheeran's flair for pulling at the heart strings of young women. Performing with conviction and intensity, the newcomer showed a voice that was as thick and rich as Thanksgiving gravy, with a pleasing falsetto and a soulful tendency to elongate one-syllable words into something more (example: grace became gray-a-a-ace).
Capaldi dropped several f-bombs as a declaration of superlative, not anger. (Example: "I'm here for the love and adulation; he [pianist Aidan] is here for the bleeping money.")
Despite his self-deprecating humor and jocular demeanor, Capaldi seemed genuinely humbled at the overwhelming response on his first trip to Minneapolis.
After playing "Bruises," his debut single from 2017, to resounding response, he reprised the chorus with just his voice and his pianist. In fact, the melancholy numbers with just voice and piano stood out, though "Headspace," featuring all four backup musicians, unfolded like a majestic hymn.
Not surprisingly, Capaldi saved "Someone You Loved" for the encore of the 85-minute performance. After she had requested mid-show to sing with him, he finally invited fan Grace Groski to join him onstage (in the original key, he suggested to the pianist). When she proved her worthiness, he high-fived her and dubbed their ad hoc duo as Grlewis.
Then Capaldi did the entire song by himself, in the current key, to the delight of the 1,600 fans, who can boast that they saw him when.