Oh, George Ezra, how we’ve missed you. It’s been a decidedly Geoff-free couple of years, but back playing at Glastonbury - “the most beautiful festival in the world,” according to the man himself - with a fair few new bangers-in-the-making up his crafty sleeves, he’s back on beaming form, shrugging his shoulders like there’s no tomorrow, and telling the crowd long, meandering stories like he’s sat in the living room having a tinny with his best mates.
One such rambling story, about George’s adventures in a certain European city in a dank attic room, leads to yells for ‘Budapest’. “You don’t think we’d put that one this early in the set?” he retorts, grinning away. ‘Budapest’ naturally comes later - bringing a field-wide sing-along in its wake - but first it’s time for brand new songs, and some surprise rearrangements of ‘Wanted on Voyage’ cuts. ‘Leaving It Up To You’ even gets the full band treatment for a change. It’s really in the newest material, though, that George shows where he’s headed next.
‘Hold My Girl’ - a tender new cut - gets an airing, as does a brassy, trombone-slinging ‘All My Love’ and George Ezra’s new single ‘Don’t Matter Now,’ which by now, is a total hit. Speaking about the newbies, George talks of anxiety and confusion feeding into the mix. “One thing I noticed, when I was walking around,” he smiles, “is that nobody has a clue what they’re doing”. George might claim to be as baffled and lost as the rest of us, but if there’s one thing his set proves, he can definitely write songs that point towards a smasher of a second record.
