Review: Olly Murs at Sound Island Festival, Quex Park, Birchington, Sunday, July 29

by Jess Banham

He’s a busy boy at the moment – what with his recent six week tour of America, new album and latest stint on the Xtra factor – but if Olly Murs was knackered when headlining the Sound Island Festival this weekend, he didn’t show it.

At just £32.50 a ticket, the festival was pretty good value for money, with not one but FIVE support acts before the main man arrived. Cover Drive in particular are worth a mention as they brought a bit of Barbados sunshine to a rather soggy Kent. They recently supported Rhianna on her Loud tour and definitely impressed the crowd.

Rizzle Kicks, pictured above, performed with their usual energy, bouncing around the stage like a couple of energizer bunnies on Red Bull and despite a torrential downpour half way through, managed to keep everyone in Quex Park singing. Apart from a few dodgy dance moves, their cover of Ed Sheerans’ You Need Me was one of the evening's highlights (except for the few members of the crowd who thought Ed was actually about to come on and perform it himself.)

But it was Olly Murs most of them had come to see and his usual cheeky charm didn’t disappoint. Wearing his trademark trilby he performed stuff from both his albums and a couple of classic covers too – enough to keep everyone happy.

His constant banter with the audience and updates on his recent tour with One Direction would have felt like a dodgy version of An Audience with… from anyone else but from Olly felt like catching up with a mate over a cuppa!

And although he may have been losing his voice, for those of us who've been fans since the X Factor days, his dancing more than made up for it!