With the release of his debut album “We’re Too Young,” in September last year, Andy Bull quickly became a darling of the critics. Whist his piano driven pop songs were catchy and quirky and everything mainstream, his unique voice helped to create a style all of his own. For the you were un-initiated, Bull sings in a higher register than most his peers, which is a polite way of saying that you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a woman sing. But Bull has taken this and made it his strength, to create a distinctive yet familiar brand of pop all of his own.

The night was opened by Mike Rosenberg from the UK band Passenger. Mike quickly charmed the audience with his acoustic-folk-pop songs, which by his omission were mostly sad, depressing tales of loves lost. And indeed they were, of the most heart wrenching kind, but the audience couldn’t get enough. Occasionally breaking the melancholy with his own brand of humour, Mike played a song detailing the impracticality of it actually raining men or cats and dogs. He them implored us to be grateful it was not pissing down. Mike’s stage manner helped greatly in his charming of the audience, his talent and ability confirmed he was a seasoned performer, but at times his guitar swinging and foot stomping made it seem more like this was the first time he was playing outside of his garage. For the last song, he unplugged his guitar and stepped away from the microphone to serenade the audience with another sad tale. By the time he left the stage, the audience’s hearts had been both captured and broken.

With the stage well and truly set, Andy Bull emerged to further delight the crowd with his eccentric pop stylings. It quickly becomes apparent that Bull is a talent much bigger than he seems. His dexterity on the keyboard compliments his one of kind singing style to absolute perfection. Opening with “New Slang,” by The Shins, Bull proved what most of the audience already knew; he is a force to be reckoned with and one that is here to stay. As he progressed through the set, mixing songs from his debut album with personal anecdotes and songs fresh from his imagination Bull showed that already his sound is evolving. Enlisting a backing band, Andy Bull’s sound is already progressing from the pop soul melodies to an edgier, rockier sound. This echoes the sometimes cynical nature of Bull’s new songs, such as “Pretty Girls,” a tribute to a phenomenon Bull encountered in his youth. Rich, pretty girls are often lacking in the personality department, which Bull reminds us will eventually catch up with them because “Lonely girls, are the ones pretty girls become.”

Andy Bull was on the scene a long time before his album dropped and this has helped him to not become a child of the spotlight who is quickly forgotten when a new fad comes along. By maintaining a steady tour schedule, Bull has built up a solid fan base which becomes very apparent at his shows. Every audience member stayed until the last song, and then some. His talent more than obvious within earshot, this softly spoken part time dishwasher is constantly developing his sound and impressing his audience. And will be doing so for a long time to come.