Zara Larsson – Concert Review

Who is Zara Larsson?

I’m sure you have heard the songs “Lush Life” or the official song of UEFA EURO 2016 “This One’s For You”, these songs are sung by the Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson. She is only 19 years old, but she has already released two albums “1” and “So Good”, no wonder that she started her career with 10. Singing and dancing are her passion. I’m a fan of her since summer of 2015 when I listened to “Lush Life” for the first time. I almost love all her songs, my favorites are “I Would Like” and “Ain’t My Fault”.

Before the concert

When I saw that tickets are on sale for her upcoming UK & Europe Tour I bought two tickets unscrupulously. Given that I live in Switzerland I bought tickets for her concert in Zurich in the “Halle 622”, on the 2^nd November 2017. There were only standing tickets available, each cost 50 CHF, the price for me was rather cheap, because I have been on concerts where the tickets cost above 100 CHF. My company for the concert was my lovely friend Alenka, she is a fan of Zara too. The moment when she heard that I have two tickets for the concert she freaked out, so I no longer had to find someone to accompany me. On the concert day, Alenka and I met us at the main train station in Zurich at 6 pm and took the train to Oerlikon where the “Halle 622” is. Our energy was high since the moment we met. So, we were singing lyrics of “I Would Like” and “Lush Life”, while we were waiting outside in the queue. Also, trying to sing the lyrics by heart. The doors opened at 6.30pm, the security check was strict, no bags were allowed to take inside, only small ones, they also checked or bodies. As we were inside we had to wait till 8 pm for the support act. Zara’s audience consists mostly of teenage girls accompanied by their parents, but also of boys and adults. I and Alenka were near to the stage, let’s say in the fifth row, it felt like 2 meters away.

Support Act

Few minutes after 8 pm the support act Juliander took the stage. Honestly, I didn’t know him until the day before the concert, when I googled him and listened to his two songs on Spotify for the first time. Juliander is also a Swedish singer and songwriter, if I’m not wrong then today is his birthday and he turned 20. After his first song, everyone fell in love with him and his music. The word “gorgeous” describes him very good. His hairstyle, outfit, voice, energy and sympathy let the audience adore him. He was alone on the stage, so he mixed his own beats, played the guitar and the piano. He sang 6 songs and left the stage at circa 8.30pm. Before leaving the stage, he invited us to take pictures with him at the merchandise stand after the concert. He is a talented lovable young man and I’m sure 2018 will be his year. Go and check him out.

Zara Larsson’s Performance

At ca. 9 pm Zara finally went on stage after her band and made her opening with the song “Never Forget You” during the song her four female dancers appeared on the stage and danced with her. After the first two songs she gave her first speech to us, she apologized for being a bit sick. She also told us to forget all our personal problems for the next 1.5 hours and just enjoy her performance and the moment. She asked us to sing and dance along if we want to. We could notice her sickness by her talking but not by her vocals. She had two vocalists who helped her out but still, her own vocals were still satisfying. To be sick and still dance to almost every song and sing at the same time has definitely not been easy for her, but she really managed it like a professional performer. The show must go on, right? Her setlist was diversified with her ballads and with her dance hits. A special moment was when she let the audience sing the beginning of “Symphony”. In her final speech, she thanked her Swiss fans for being one of the countries that supported her music the most before she had her worldwide breakthrough.  Afterwards, she left the stage but came back for her encore. In her encore she sang first “Uncover” while singing this song she went down to the audience and received presents like flowers from her fans, she took some selfies with few lucky ones, she signed albums and held the microphone to some fans to sing. The final song was naturally “Lush Life”. According to her official setlist, she should have sung four songs in her encore, but in Zurich, she only sang two. This is probably because she was sick, and she didn’t want to stay any longer on the stage and overtax her voice. Everything was amazing I only have one point of criticism, she wore the same outfit the whole time. I wished to see her in different clothes. The concert ended at 10.20 pm.

After the concert

After the concert Alenka and I had still a high energy, so we were still singing her songs. Before we left the concert area, we went to the merchandise stand to take a picture with Juliander. While waiting in the queue we talked to his photographer Fredrik Gustafson and had a small talk with him about how cute it would be if Zara and Juliander were a couple. Unfortunately, Zara has a boyfriend, a British model. Juliander was very friendly to everyone, he was patient with the fans and stayed there until everyone had a picture with him. I also had a small talk with him and told him how talented he is. He complimented me and told me that he likes my shirt. Then we took some pictures and selfies with him. It was amazing. The merchandise stand itself was disappointing I didn’t like the designs of the t-shirts and hoodies, also the other fan articles weren’t convincing. So, I bought nothing.

To end this concert review I want to say that it was worth going to this concert. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been on. Zara, Juliander and their team are so sweet and friendly. Alenka and I fell in love with Swedish people. So, to visit Sweden is now on our bucket list. If you want to see the pictures of me and Juliander and other videos from the concert visit my private Instagram account @erenneseli, I will also share some on my blog Instagram account @erenblogs. Let me know in the comment section if you ever saw Zara live on tour. And let me know if I should write an album review for her 2^nd album “So Good”, which is really good.