Gig review: Kenny Thomas at O2 Academy Sheffield

Fans were clamouring for a Kenny fix, as the show had already been postponed from the original date in October 2021.

A superb support act in the form of American Acantha Lang set the tone of the evening perfectly with exquisite, soulful vocals and bags of charisma and stage presence. A song called ‘Lois Lang’- named after her mother- brought a rapturous applause with it’s heartfelt lyrics. A singer certainly destined for bigger things.

Thomas opened up his set with a cover of Naranda Michael Walden’s 1979 hit Tonight I’m Alright swiftly followed by I Will, Act Like You Know and Best Of You, the latter song being from his debut album.

Other crowd pleasers included Stay, Can’t Hide Love, If You Believe and Turn It Up – a funky number that really had the crowd boogeying to the catchy lyrics.

Kenny announced that a new album was in the pipeline and performed one of the songs from that album – Stand Up For Love – an infectious number that he wrote with his friend and Sheffield’s own hitmaker Eliot Kennedy.

The final half of the set featured a cover of Lou Rawls’ You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine and Kenny’s smash hits Thinking About Your Love and Outstanding lifting the roof off the O2 Academy.

Chants of “Kenny! Kenny! Kenny” echoed around the intimate venue, which was enough to bring him back on stage to a deafening applause for an encore featuring I Found Lovin – a cover song which he released last year collaborating with Dr Packer.

A wonderful evening of feel-good, foot-tapping music by the timeless Thomas who continues to impress 30 years later.