After years of quietly releasing center stage-worthy music yet averting the spotlight, British singer-songwriter Cleo Sol made her long-awaited debut on Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl. The concert took place just days after she performed stateside for the first time during a three-show run at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.
The energy inside the 17,000-capacity, sold-out amphitheater was palatable as attendees, both new and old, understood two things: This was a rare opportunity to witness the prolific R&B singer perform, and that her deeply healing music was going to move them emotionally and spiritually. (Before the show started, several people in the crowd near me said they were ready to cry — and so was I.)
Backed by an 11-member band including five background singers — all of whom had distinguishable tones and felt like they’d been handpicked by Cleo Sol herself — she opened the show at 9 p.m. with the introspective “Rewind” from 2020’s “Rose in the Dark,” before effortlessly flowing into the project’s next track, “Rose in the Dark.”
Clad in a gold-toned silk dress, Cleo Sol smiled brightly and playfully danced across the stage as she ran through other fan favorites from “Rose in the Dark” including the seductive and jazzy “When I’m in Your Arms,” romantic “Sideways,” the yearning “I Love You” and encouraging “Young Love.” Without the aid of a back track, her soulful and silky voice carried throughout the large venue as she riffed and showed off her impressive vocal range. In between songs, she sipped on an electrolyte-filled drink, which she joked was helping her get through the night.
Cleo Sol, who is also the lead vocalist for the equally elusive U.K.-based collective SAULT, could’ve easily dipped into their robust catalog — which spans 11 studio albums and two EPs — during Friday night’s set. Instead, she chose to stick to her solo offerings, pulling from 2021’s “Mother” and her 2023 releases “Heaven” and “Gold,” which arrived two weeks apart. (She gave a shout out to her husband, Inflo — her producer and the mastermind behind SAULT — who was in attendance.)
During her song “Heart Full of Love,” which she dedicated to her son, Cleo Sol joined her background vocalists and sat on a stool. As they sang the lyrics, “Thank you for sending me an angel straight from Heaven / When my hope was gone, you made me strong,” the crowd lit up the venue by holding their cellphones in the air and rocking from side to side. “This is making me emotional, I’m gonna cry,” she said to the audience. “It looks beautiful from up here.”
More than halfway through the nearly two-hour show, Cleo Sol briefly left the altar and resurfaced in the stands, toward the middle of the venue to sing “Know That You Are Loved.” She performed the deeply affirmative track that feels like both a mantra and a lullaby in the same fashion that she did during her viral Royal Albert Hall show in 2023 — getting closer to her fans, touching their hands and singing to them directly. Her tender vocal performance felt like a gigantic hug from a loved one.
She then returned to the stage to perform the powerful “Life Will Be,” which felt like a perfect ending, before running back out yet again to sing an electrifying encore of “Why Don’t You” from her “Rose in the Dark” project.
“OK, one more!” she said, laughing.
Much like her R&B predecessors, Sade and D’Angelo, who are also known for being reclusive and charting their own territory, Cleo Sol’s performance on Friday proved that when you truly love what you do and the music comes first, you don’t have to play into the industry’s never-ending rat race. Cleo Sol follows the divine timing of her life and does what feels right for her, which has paid off in the long run. She’s a testament to the fact that although fans might not want to wait for new music or to see her perform live, they’ll excitedly show up for her whenever she’s ready.