Olly Murs Celebrates 15 Years of Cheeky Pop at The Piece Hall in Halifax [Photos]

The Piece Hall in Halifax hosted a night celebrating the loveable Olly Murs’ 15 years in the business, since he first took a chance and auditioned for The X Factor, eventually finishing as runner-up behind Joe McElderry, but going on to have a much bigger career than the winner.

First up, though, the fans in the historic courtyard witnessed the birth of potentially the next big boy band Absnt Mind, who created quite a stir in the audience. They have all the ingredients to grow into something that will do well (although perhaps a better name may be needed for world domination) but will definitely benefit from a couple more years working together and building a set of their own material, as they relied a lot on doing renditions of other artists tracks, including a great version of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.”

They also took the time to meet and pose for photos with some of their fans, so they aren’t afraid to put in the work to grow. Who knows, this may be the start of something big. Good luck to them.

Next up was another reality TV discovery in the form of Lemar, who could, and probably should, come back with a full band and play a headline set at some point. The fans lapped up his soulful set, and he performed like a headliner. His famously fantastic voice is still in tip-top condition, and his hits “Dance (With U)” and “If There’s Any Justice” went down really well, as did his cover of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles.”

As the anticipation built for the headliner, the screen behind the stage began a countdown with a digital loading bar and counted through the last 15 years before the chart-topping Olly popped up at the back of the stage with his trademark cheeky smile and launched straight into his hit “Troublemaker.”

He was instantly in performer mode, and his choreography was slick. The crowd went wild and stayed that way all night as he ran through a fantastic set of his tunes from the last 15 years – that was pure unadulterated fun – and some massive singalong hits as well as a touching tribute to his best friend Caroline Flack “Dear Darlin’” and the brilliant “Heart Skips a Beat.”

His loveable, cheeky chap personality was infectious, and the audience, both young and old, danced their way through the night – whether it was their 1st or 71st Olly show. He is the consummate performer and certainly knows how to put on a show – and this one goes down as yet another epic and memorable night at one of the UK’s best venues.

Our photographer, Frank Ralph Photography, brought back this gallery of photos from the show, which you can check out here:

Olly Murs (w/ Absnt Mind, Lemar) @ The Piece Hall (Halifax, UK) on July 7th, 2025

38 photos