Lewis Capaldi at Roundhay Festival, Leeds: A resurrection to savour for Glaswegian star and Leeds venue

Have the meteorological gods dictated a dash of pathetic fallacy for Roundhay Festival and its inaugural weekend?

Blue-white skies swathed with golden-hour light and the occasional burst of breeziness proved apt accompaniment for opening night headliner Pitbull and his breed of party bangers.

Conversely, the intermittent slate-grey drizzle that greets thousands of punters ahead of Saturday bill-topper Lewis Capaldi feels like custom-tooled mood music for his oeuvre.

The Glaswegian singer-songwriter’s rapid ascent to the soft-pop upper leagues has, in no small part, been facilitated by his ability to spin both a self-deprecating wit and flippant warmth around the vulnerable earnestness of his blue-eyed soul stylings.

Forced off the road with mental health matters and a Tourette syndrome diagnosis in 2023, this summer’s return to the nation’s largest outdoor venues is an effective valedictory lap for a comeback sparked by last year’s trip back to Glastonbury and the accompanying hit Survive, his sixth solo chart-topper on the British charts.

This date also arrives underscored with a touch of history too.

Capaldi played Roundhay seven years ago as junior support to fellow acoustic troubadour Ed Sheeran - this third time under the shadow of Hill 60 ties him with nineties anarcho-heroes Chumbawumba for the most shows held on site too.

It comes with a supporting bill too that festival bookers have shrewdly stuffed with an assortment of rising names; the star’s friend Kerr Mercer sits neatly beside BRIT Critic’s Choice Award winner Jacon Alon and their plaintive indie folk, while American twosome Jessie Murph and Conan Gray offer different veins of chart-friendly hooks, each sporting superbly tousled hair.

The rain ebbs and flows throughout, but by the time the main man himself ambles out, guitar in hand, the wind-whipped spray has mostly passed above the parklands, pink hues peeking over the horizon.

It suits Capaldi just fine, teeing off with Hollywood to rapturous applause and barely looking back across the next hour-and-a-half as he plays muscular Americana musicianship and power ballad arrangements with aplomb.

The inter-song patter may cut more than his tunes, but the emotive wallop behind it all still possesses raw communal transcendence; Bruises hangs off massed voices, Grace offers a gripping crescendo, and Before You Go reduces a slim majority of the audience to hoarse tears.

As Someone You Love billows away into the evening, Capaldi finds himself triumphantly reborn.

Like Roundhay itself, his moment is a resurrection to savour.