Review: Ruel, The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane

Aussie pop sensation has declared his Brisbane show his craziest yet, as thousands of adoring fans screamed along to his hits.

He’s the 20-year-old who’s shared stages with legends in the industry and sold out shows all over the world to thousands of screaming fans, but Ruel’s “craziest” performance yet happened in Brisbane.

The first leg of the Sydney pop musician’s world tour at The Fortitude Music Hall on Friday night had it all, complete with fake snow, falling leaves, beach balls, hazmat suits, a telephone booth, pyrotechnics, a couple of cowboy hats and a sneaky BeReal.

In his own words, Ruel called it the “craziest show” he’d done yet, as thousands of adoring fans screamed the lyrics of his debut album 4th Wall back to him in the sell-out event.

And boy, oh boy, did they go crazy for the 6’5” trailblazer.

It’s been three years since the influential musician released new material after the success of his early tunes like Golden Years, Painkiller and Face to Face.

And his fans felt every second of it.

They’d been waiting with bated breath for this debut album, and it’s 14 brutally honest, raw and relatable songs, so it was no surprise the gig was sold out early.

But what I didn’t expect was more than 700 mostly young women lined up almost completely full-circle around the block before the doors opened, almost three hours before Ruel stepped on stage.

After four years without a tour on his home soil, the fans were itching to see him perform, and Ruel didn’t disappoint.

Stepping out in groovy two-toned denim jeans and his grown out hair left down, he kicked off the 90-minute action-packed show with some new “bangers” off his album which was released in March.

His distinctive, delicious, silky-smooth vocals were even better live than I imagined. “Talented” is a huge understatement. He’s in a league of his own with that tone.

He delighted some OG fans from his triple j days with his “older classics” and threw in some covers, including an almost entire piano version of One Direction’s Night Changes, before getting over it and bailing toward the end.

He’s got his own style of performing, his own rules, and that radiates on stage.

Every hip movement, hand through the hair, or point to a girl in the crowd sends his fans into a state of hysteria.

Even the dads in their mid-50s, clearly just their to chaperone their teenage daughters, were bopping or clapping along as Ruel commanded his audience so effortlessly.

He creates moments with his audience, encouraging mass singalongs of Younger, jumping into the crowd, and even being apart of a fan’s BeReal.

There’s no wonder he’s racked up two billion global song streams and 1.2 million Instagram followers, as well as break the record for the youngest musician to sell out the Sydney Opera House, twice.

The ARIA-award-winner didn’t need anything else up there with him, but adding to the cinema of the show was a stellar band, cool stage props and some of the funkiest backup dancers I’ve ever seen.

Ruel gives audiences a glimpse into his mind with his new album, truly breaking the fourth wall and using it all to put on an unforgettable and entertaining show.

Originally published as Review: Ruel, The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane