Amelia Cropley
Just this Friday, the locals of West Bridgford, supermarket shoppers and those mid-drive to work, must have been shocked to see Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi on the roof of their passing Aldi just off Wilford Lane.
But, as surreal and strange as it seemed, it was true. Starting the morning off strong at 9:30am, Lewis Cap-ALDI, turned a roof to a stage and performed to a pre-arranged crowd and any nearby shoppers and fans who were lucky enough to hear of the show on short notice (and, of course, the drivers told ‘eyes on the road’ by Capaldi jokingly mid-song).
[THIS PERFORMANCE] MAY JUST BE AS ICONIC AS HIS [CAPALDI’S] RECENT GLASTONBURY HEADLINE EARLIER THIS YEAR
This impromptu performance on the roof of Aldi may just be as iconic as his recent Glastonbury headline earlier this year in June, with a cardboard ‘CAP’ duct-taped in front of Aldi’s logos across the venue.
Lewis, who is currently touring the UK showed that you do not need a stage and thousands of people for a good gig, and instead just an Aldi roof, humour and a few local fans. 
“Welcome to Capaldi”, the singer began, including a special thank you to Aldi and those who stopped their shopping to see him perform live. The University of Nottingham’s NSTV also captured the moments of fans who were stunned by the barrier that this was their Friday morning.
“It is very surreal, very strange,’ one fan told NSTV, also commenting on how perfect the event is, considering she was unsuccessful in getting concert tickets to his Nottingham show later that same day. The same fan even commented that this event is ‘how it should be’, considering how it gave lots of people the chance to see their favourite artist live, rather than just the lucky ticket-holders.
“Sorry to get in the way of anyone’s shopping. I apologise. But I was back there earlier, some excellent produce, brioche buns, carrots – the lot.”
After some well-executed Aldi promotion, Lewis jokingly compared his supermarket extravaganza to the Beatles, who maybe even inspired the performance when they played on the roof of their music label, Apple Corps, back in 1969. Maybe that’s how important Aldi is to Lewis Capaldi.
West Bridgford local Betty, who heard of the event from her friend could not believe it at first. “It’s insane”, she told NSTV, “I only live down the road and now he’s here.” Alongside Betty were children from the local school who had seen the appearance of Capaldi, many of which held ‘We love you Lewis’ posters.
”I ONLY LIVE DOWN THE ROAD AND NOW HE’S HERE.” – BETTY, A FAN AT THE ‘CAPALDI’ EVENT ON FRIDAY.
Blessing the crowd with this completely free pop-up show, Capaldi sang three songs, unveiling his soul-stirring new hits, ‘Something in The Heavens’, ‘Survive’ and his signature, ‘Someone You Loved.’
The three songs Capaldi sang were delivered with a fe
eling that felt hand-picked. Beginning with his new single, ‘Something in The Heavens’, where alongside the feeling of disbelief that he was stood on top of Aldi, his vocals travelled out to fans giving them a mock-up of his show later that night. The last of his three songs, ‘Somebody You Loved’, had the crowd singing along with him in the open air, a beautiful way to begin the day.
The event itself was an honour to attend. Where concerts are now the end product of a Ticketmaster war, presales, general sales and a fight to the barrier, this was a down-to-earth representation of what the music industry can often still be. Leading with a sense of humour, playing on the pun of his name, Capaldi, after having “only woke up half-an-hour ago”, put it on for the fun and for his fans.
Whilst speaking to his considerably sized yet humble audience, throwing his gratitude to the West Bridgford Aldi staff and joking with his live band that they had not practiced, Capaldi entertained and brought an unbelievable conversation to Friday’s breakfast.
For some fans, there were rumours of Capaldi’s performance late Thursday afternoon, where fans like Becky, drove by last night to experience the commotion that would soon reveal to be the setting up of a stage. But for most, it was a beautiful surprise they witnessed come to together in the moment (or a few hours before).
Overall, seeing Lewis Capaldi – sorry, CapALDI – early on Friday morning was certainly not on my bingo card, but is one that shall certainly stand out. Buried among concerts nowadays, Nottingham attendees like myself, seemed extremely grateful to see their beloved singer in front of them, in a location-made-venue that captures his quick-wit and remarkable character. But whether it is Capaldi bringing an intimate show not many can say they witnessed to the outskirts of Nottingham, or that he did it stood on an Aldi – this is certainly an event for the Nottingham books.
Amelia Cropley
Featured image courtesy of the author, Amelia Cropley . No changes were made to this image.
All in article images courtesy of the author, Amelia Cropley. No changes were made to the images.
For more footage of this event please watch the University of Nottingham’s NSTV coverage of this event linked throughout this article and here.
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