Kiefer Sutherland at the New Century Hall, Manchester.

By William Mawdsley.

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't at least heard the name Kiefer Sutherland. Be it from his childhood fame in the classic coming of age film Stand By Me, or as David the vampire in horror staple The Lost Boys. Or even as the iconic Jack Bauer in the action-packed series 24, which changed the way people watched television forever. While his triumphs in the acting world speak for themselves, many of you may not know that in the past 10 years, he has turned his attention to music, developing his Americana-country sound.

Ahead of his upcoming album Grey, released Friday 29th May, Sutherland has embarked on an immense tour of various venues across the UK, playing a selection of new tracks and older favourites from previous releases. He will be returning to Manchester on Friday 28th May, to play an intimate show at Wax and Beans. Opening the show was London based singer-songwriter Colin Andrew, warming up the crowd for the main event.

The setlist also featured a few surprise covers, such as Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" and Garbage's "Only Happy When It Rains". These were a real highlight, which the crowd really enjoyed, along with more upbeat tracks such as "This Is How It's Done" and "Agave" both from the 2019 album Reckless and Me. Sutherland is also no stranger to writing a slower ballad with heartfelt lyrics. All songs were performed with an excellent live band of touring musicians, who are joining him across the rest of the tour.

Closing what was a night of positive energy, the audience, more than a few most likely starstruck, enjoyed an encore of two final tracks - "Starlight" and "2AM", a pair of sneak peeks from the new album. The crowd responded with great enthusiasm to all the new songs, and some even already knew the lyrics, presumably from videos circling on social media. I'm sure they all anxiously await Friday when they can stream the new album as much as they want.

Kiefer Sutherland has proven himself to be a somewhat Jack of all trades, pun very much intended. It was our pleasure to witness his music live in person, and to even be in the same room as such a star. We look forward to listening to the new album in full, and seeing what he comes up with next.