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Review and setlist: Lewis Capaldi showcased resilience, humor, and vocal power in return to Boston
After a three-year hiatus from performing, Capaldi was more than happy to be back at MGM Music Hall.
Lewis Capaldi at MGM Music Hall, Boston, April 19, 2026.
Lewis Capaldi returned to Boston this past weekend and made one clear message known: He is back and better than ever before.
With his dark humor, self-deprecating jokes, and an angelic voice — which does not exactly match his scruffy long hair and long-sleeve-under-tee look — Capaldi showcased his truest and healthiest self, while giving a soulful, heart-wrenching performance that brought Boston to its knees.
Capaldi’s “Survive” tour began just last week in New York City, with Boston being his second stop. After returning almost exactly three years since his last stint in this city, his Sunday concert at MGM was filled with laughter, goosebumps, and couples holding one another even tighter with each song.
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“Sunday night is a Lewis Capaldi type of night I think. You’re a little bit hungover. You’re a lot bit sad. Yous prolly crying, sing some songs, maybe sweat a little bit,” he said to the crowd after his opening songs. “You and I can do that together, you and I.”
The Scottish singer-songwriter released his “Survive” extended play in November 2025 with a mere four songs that capture his darkest moments — with one song called “The Day that I Die” — as well as the light at the end of the tunnel. This is his first set of new material after taking a hiatus in 2023 due to mental and physical health issues, particularly his battle with Tourette’s syndrome.
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This concert being only the third night of his tour, Capaldi poked fun at his lack of stage banter and made light conversation throughout the night, like wearing one girl’s tiara and shouting to his team that he found a Burt’s Bees chapstick on stage. His crowd work, while on the sillier side, was a testament to his newfound ease and improved state of mind.
“The last couple of days on this tour is the most relaxed I’ve felt on stage in a very, very f—ing long time,” he said. “It’s a bit weird to say that I feel quite chill up here, but that’s, like, the best feeling I could ask for on stage.”
Plus, his opener Joy Crookes had already warmed up the crowd for him with her radiance, sense of humor, and jazzy, groovy hits, including “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Mathematics.”
“As a f—ing Irish person, I f—ing love it here,” she said.
Though “Survive” is an EP full of ballads, Capaldi’s self-proclaimed “ballad guy” label oversimplifies his raw talent to an unmeasurable degree. Even on Sunday, while he was generous with his humility and even mentioned small vocal troubles he was facing, his fans knew better than to underestimate him. At 8:45 p.m., he started off the night immediately strong, belting out his tour and EP namesake, followed by “Grace” and “Heavenly Kind of State of Mind.”
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His lyrics are authentically poetic and rich, where each word hangs heavier than the last. His voice carries a depth that seeps into your soul, forced into you by his vocal intensity, which likely also penetrated every Lansdowne Street bar.
Watching him on stage, you can feel the sense of power, pain, and healing embedded in each song. His setlist is strung together in a way that showcases his strength in balancing his past and present, as he ebbs and flows between early hits like “Bruises” and “Before You Go” and newer ones like “Something in the Heavens” and “Almost.”
With his vocals dominating the show, the production itself was minimal, featuring only some slow-moving graphics of gloomy imagery like rain drops on windows and gray skies, along with the occasional florals, a major symbol of his EP.
But this also gave way for his bandmates’ instrumental talent to shine throughout the set, especially with an electrifying guitar solo from his lead guitarist Andy Black during “Leave Me Slowly.” The smooth, uplifting piano stylings of Aiden Halliday were also a stunning backdrop for Capaldi’s newest song “Stay Love,” released this past Friday, April 17.
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“This is the third time I’ve played this song live ever. And I’ve only really practiced it twice before that, so let’s call it the fifth time I’m playing this song. So go gentle — we’re still working out some kinks.”
It being a new track, this might have been the only time in the night when the entire audience didn’t sing along with him. But instead, they listened and watched in awe as he unveiled his full register against only Halliday’s accompaniment, hitting the highs and lows of the song effortlessly. He had nothing to worry about.
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He ended the night right around 10 p.m. with his most famous hit, “Someone You Loved.” Just three years ago, this was the song in which he struggled to perform at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival due to his Tourette’s and let his fans sing the song for him. That was the moment that led to his break from performing.
Since then, he’s reclaimed his strength. He performed at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival last June, released this EP, began his tour, and even revealed that he’ll be working on a new album after he finishes performing in Europe this summer.
So last night at MGM in Boston, Capaldi again stepped back to let his fans take over the choruses of several of his songs, especially “Someone You Loved.” But this time it was done purposefully, with a whole new meaning: Capaldi survived.
Setlist for Lewis Capaldi at MGM Music Hall, Boston, April 19, 2026.
- Survive
- Grace
- Heavenly Kind of State of Mind
- Forever
- Wish You the Best
- Love the Hell Out of You
- Almost
- Bruises
- Pointless
- Something in the Heavens
- Leave Me Slowly
- Forget Me
- The Day that I Die
- Before You Go
- Stay Love
- Hold Me While You Wait
- Someone You Loved
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