Live Review: Khalid, Ruel

What seemed like a never-ending line of mostly teenage fans waited outside Hordern Pavilion, eager for 19-year-old American R&B singer-songwriter Khalid's show.

M-Phazes mentee Ruel had the task of warming up an already-packed crowd. The young artist in his early teens, who has already received praise from the likes of Elton John, proved he has endless potential and is sure to cement himself in the Australian music scene. Ruel opened his set a cappella, his impressive falsetto eliciting screams and cheers from the crowd. A four-piece band joined Ruel for his M-Phazes collab Golden Years and then for a cover of Jack Garratt's Weathered, which Ruel played recently for triple j's Like A Version. The young musician exuded confidence, moving around the stage and interacting with his audience and band. The tone and power of his voice are quite remarkable and he knew how to show it off. Ruel then picked up his acoustic guitar for a John Legend cover he said he used to play when busking around Manly.

Khalid kicked off his set with the title track from his album American Teen, and immediately had everyone bouncing around with him. Stars and stripes lit up the screen behind him and cheerleaders danced and cartwheeled across the stage. He apologised for bringing the mood of the room down with a "sad as fuck" song before launching into Another Sad Love Song, but brought the energy back up with 8TEEN, which had the crowd singing along with every word. The young artist said he was excited to be playing his first Australian show and couldn't quite believe he'd made it to another continent. Khalid played the smooth single Saved and then the song he told us he feels "gets slept on": Hopeless. He performed the latter acoustically, showing off his incredibly unique and soulful voice. 

He told the audience a friend of his passed away very recently in a motorbike accident and dedicated his song Angels to his memory. With clouds and a ray of light on the screen behind him, and so much emotion in his voice, it was a performance that raised collective goosebumps — a definite highlight of the night. Every phone went up to record his new collaboration with EDM producer/DJ Marshmello, Silence, which had everyone, including Khalid, dancing — he's got moves. Khalid introduced his final track Location as the song that got him to where he is, performing for a huge crowd on the other side of the world.

Khalid met fans' requests for an encore with not one but two more songs: the first, his upbeat track with Calvin Harris, Rollin; the second, his hit song Young Dumb & Broke. He left fans on a high and covered in confetti - a great end to a great night.