Loyle Carner Returns To The Royal Albert Hall In Celebration Of Love, Forgiveness and Vulnerability [Live review]

Photography: Jesse Crankson

In celebration of his 29th birthday, Loyle Carner returns to the Royal Albert Hall for one night only to celebrate his lauded Mercury Prize-nominated album Hugo. The standing ovation within the first ten minutes of his performance is enough to tell me that this show will be one to remember.

The crowd is both calm and attentive before the South Londoner arrives onstage promptly at 8.30 pm. Decorated by an orchestra including violins, a harp and live backing vocals, Carner (real name Benjamin Coyle-Larner) grasps the attention of his audience, with phones remaining firmly in pockets whilst fans bask in the moment. After performing his song Plastic, my personal favourite from the album, Carner declares: ‘I’m so unbelievably grateful. I can’t express it enough’.

Live photography: Diogo Lopes

At one point, Carner puts on a birthday hat from someone in the crowd before receiving a wholehearted ‘Happy Birthday’ rendition from fans. Known for the acute vulnerability of his lyrics, the British-Guyanese artist touches on fatherhood, forgiveness and generations traumatised by violent crime in the inner city. Unafraid to shy away from topics that are usually untouched by hip-hop artists, Carner displays an admirable vulnerability that all listeners can learn from.

He dedicates the song Homerton to his son who was born in the Hackney borough in 2020 as revellers are graced with the soulful vocals from collaborator JNR WILLIAMS. Blood On My Nikes touches on Carner having witnessed a shooting at the age of 16, with the artist tearing up during a spoken word rendition by youth MP Athian Akec: ‘Never has so much been lost by so many because of the indecision of so few.’ The grief and hopelessness of a nation struggling to garner meaningful action from the UK government in response to these issues is captured in this moment, with one fan shouting ‘Fuck the Tories!’

On toxic masculinity, Carner says ‘I grew up in a place where there was an idea of what a man was … Fuck that toxic masculine bullshit.’ He urges us to reach out and speak to someone trusted about any mental health struggles and expresses pride in his son being able to express his emotions so openly.

Performing a few songs from an upcoming project, listeners gain a sneak peek of jungle/breakbeat-infused tracks which won the approval of the crowd. During the performance of Loose Ends, two teenage girls to my right chanted every lyric word for word, solidifying Carner’s touching and relatable lyrics that strike a chord with fans from many different backgrounds.

Ending the show with HDU, a song about love, family and forgiveness, perfectly concludes a performance that was both emotionally poignant and shrouded in hope for the future.

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Listen to Hugo here: