Music

On Tuesday night (Nov. 26), as fans filed into London’s Hammersmith Apollo to see Zayn Malik perform, the foyer of the 5,000-capacity venue became a flurry of nerves and pent-up anticipation. At each corner, friends ran to each other and embraced, sharing handmade bracelets or falling into selfie formation. The merch stand was adorned with mini tote bags and paint-by-numbers sets, a nod to a well-documented pastime of the Bradford-born singer. Outside, meanwhile, small groups of people could be spotted refreshing resale sites incessantly on their smartphones – the unmet demand for tickets felt palpable. 

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For the lucky few thousand who made it inside, emotions were running high. Across the near entirety of Malik’s solo career, the 31-year-old has remained absent from the live circuit, citing struggles with stage fright. In the eight years since he released his Billboard 200-topping debut LP Mind Of Mine – which dropped 12 months to the day after he departed One Direction – Malik has continued to put out records while keeping a low profile, a commitment which has extended to an often-elusive social media presence.

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“I just couldn’t go through with it,” Malik wrote in his 2016 self-titled memoir, explaining his decision to cancel a planned appearance earlier that year at Capital FM’s Summertime Ball. “Mentally, the anxiety had won. Physically, I knew I couldn’t function. I would have to pull out.”

In the book, he explained how being in One Direction allowed him to get past his anxiety because he wasn’t the sole center of attention, though solo performance was simply too much for him. “I don’t want to say I’m sick. I want to tell people what’s going on, and I’m not gonna be ashamed of what’s happening,” he added.

Last night’s show also came less than a week after Malik attended the funeral of One Direction’s Liam Payne, where he joined his fellow former bandmates, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan. He commenced his tour in Leeds three days later, paying tribute to Payne – who died last month (Oct. 16) following a fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina – with a message projected on a large screen at the end of the performance. “Liam Payne 1993-2024 Love You bro,” it read, while Malik’s track “Stardust” played over speakers. 

At Hammersmith Apollo, Malik chose not to directly address the emotional upheaval that has marked his journey to the stage and instead let the music do most of the talking. Leading a live band, on a stage flanked with tree decorations and an illustrated backdrop resembling his farm in rural Pennsylvania, Malik’s setlist was dominated by tracks from recent album Room Under The Stairs, which landed at No.3 in the Official U.K. Albums Chart in May. 

Kicking off the performance with “My Woman,” Malik looked overawed at the response from the crowd, who hit pulverising decibel counts for newer tracks such as “In The Bag” and “Lied To.” Wearing a trilby hat as he gripped a red mic stand, the singer chose to eschew performing any One Direction material, as well as some of his biggest singles (from radio hit “Like I Would” to Sia team-up “Dusk Till Dawn”).

Malik slowly opened up throughout the evening, miming a guitar solo during “Dreamin” and laughing in disbelief at the room’s enthusiasm towards his newer material. “It feels fu–ing amazing to be here,” he said by way of introducing “Birds On A Cloud.” He continued: “It took a while, but we’re going to enjoy ourselves – have a drink, have a laugh and sing as loud as you can.”

As Mailk rolled through Room Under The Stairs highlights, plus the occasional track from 2018 LP Icarus Falls or follow-up Nobody Is Listening, the screaming refused to subside. “Vas happenin’!,” the singer exclaimed at one point, referencing a beloved catchphrase from his One Direction days. He later hailed his “amazing” fanbase for being “so patient” with his comeback before pausing proceedings numerous times to check on the wellbeing of those in the crowd.

From a sublimely confident cover of Paolo Nutini’s “Last Request” to a countrified version of the chart-topping “Pillowtalk,” the performance was a stark contrast to the more intimate show that Malik played at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in May. That six-song set was accompanied by the premiere of The Road To The Mic, a documentary charting his rehearsal process. It marked only the second time Malik had been seen in public for five years; in January, a lack of crowd control at his Paris Fashion Week appearance led to his foot being run over by a passing car.

While Malik continues to reckon with returning to the limelight, he is set to tour the U.K. through Dec. 9, with gigs lined up in Wolverhampton, Manchester, Newcastle, and Edinburgh, plus additional dates in London and Leeds. He’ll then head to the U.S. in early 2025 for a run of shows initially postponed in the wake of Payne’s death, hitting up major cities including New York and Los Angeles. 

“Thanks for being patient with me and for always believing in me,” Malik concluded shortly before the lights went up at Hammersmith Apollo. As closer “Gates Of Hell” began to simmer out, he offered a nod in gratitude, signing off with a giddy cry of “f–k yeah.”