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- Words Notion Staff
Becky Hill, with support from L Devine, blew the crowds away with a performance at the Virgin Money Unity Arena in Newcastle.
After months without live music, Virgin Money came to the rescue with their Unity Arena in the North East of England. The socially-distant outdoor music venue, it caters for 500 viewing spaces, hosting a maximum of 2,500 people. From personal platforms, groups could safely enjoy incredible live gigs once more.
In a sold-out show, singer-songwriter Becky Hill brought some serious anthems to the stage for her concert. Performing on Sunday 13th September, she wowed the crowd with renditions of her biggest hits.
Opening the show was local Geordie musician, L Devine, who dazzled with a whole host of songs, including “Peachy Keen”, “Boring People” and “Naked Alone”. She even dropped her upcoming single “Girls Like Sex”.
From her set, it was clear to see why L Devine was labeled “the future of pop” by Charli XCX.
L Devine has been on a roll since she kicked off her career in 2017 with debut EP ‘Growing Pains’. Since then, she’s gone from strength to strength with a stream of singles, sophomore EP, ‘Peer Pressure’, and the banger “Naked Alone”.
Owning the stage with a glowing ‘L’ behind her, L Devine treated fans to songs from across her discography, as she readied the stage for headliner Becky Hill.
Kicking things off with “False Alarm”, her collab with Matoma, Becky then smashed through some of her huge hits such as “Gecko”, her song with Oliver Heldens, “Heaven On My Mind”, “Afterglow” and “Back and Forth”, and of course her breakup anthem “Better Off Without You”.
Consistently racking up tens of millions of streams on every song she releases, Becky Hill has had a stellar career to date. Over the years, she’s worked with some of the biggest hitters in the dance music game. Everyone from Tiesto and Sigala to MNEK, WEISS, Shift K3Y, MK, and Jonas Blue have snapped up Becky’s powerful vocals for their tracks.
Looking radiant in a sparkling dress and knee-high boots, her hair blowing in the wind, Becky’s vocals soared as she belted out her pulsating Sigala collaboration “Wish You Well” to close the night.
Becky Hill and L Devine’s concert at the Virgin Money Unity Arena was just one in a run of euphoric socially-distant gigs across the summer. Newcastle lad Sam Fender, Two Door Cinema Club, Tom Grennan and more also shared the stage over the past six weeks, to the delight of music-lovers in the North East.
But the Unity Arena catered to more than just live music. Comedians Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr and Jason Manford caused ripples of laughs at their performances in August. There were also plans for bingo night, hosted by Bongo’s Bingo.
However, due to the latest COVID regulations in the North East of England, Virgin Money has had to cancel the last of its shows at the Unity Arena. Chase & Status’s performance on Thursday 17th was the last at the open-air venue.
Sadly this means that performances from Joe McElderry, Jack Savoretti, Kaiser Chiefs and Declan McKenna will not go ahead.
Sharing a message to Instagram, Virgin Money said that after “an incredible six week run of successfully socially-distant concerts,” they would be complying with government guidance.
In the meantime, we will be waiting and wishing for the day when live music can return.