John Legend Supported By Judith Hill - Manchester Apollo

Judith Hill has been hand picked to support John Legend on this tour by the man himself, you can see why as there are a lot of similarities: they both play the piano and both write and perform soulful songs.

She has backed artists such as Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Michael Jackson. With a major record deal with Sony it appears that she is working on her debut album (due for release early next year) with Isa from Florence and the Machine.

With only herself and her piano her 20 minute support slot was short and sweet. Her songs tend to lean to Alicia Keys and Brenda Russell, her best song she performed was A Beautiful Life, a track that showed her vocal range and song writing talent. A new name to watch out for who will appeal to the same audience of that of tonight's headlining act.

John Legend has been successful in the past but with his hit single All of Me in the UK he has become a household name. A 4 piece string quartet appears at the side of the stage playing a short 3 minute piece before Legend appears from the back of the stage, looking very smart dressed in a black suit.

With his mainstream success many of tonight's audience might be seeing him live for the first time so with this in mind he treats his new and old fans with a near enough chronological set list of his career. Some of the tracks are stripped right down and songs such as Best You've Ever Had sound even better for it, allowing his voice and the richness of the song come to the fore.

He informs the sell-out audience that he was once a management consultant and how, in the early days of his career he backed artists such as Kanye West and Alicia Keys. He appears to be friendly, charming and genuine.

What follows is pure magic with songs such as Let's Go to the Park, Green Light and Ordinary People. He could even be this generation's Stevie Wonder, it is like watching and hearing a huge talent that will still be around in 20 years time.

Surprisingly he performs two cover versions- Michael Jackson's Rock with You and Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water (which he dedicates to his grandmother who never lived to see his success)

If the song Three Times A Lady will always be the song that you associate with Lionel Richie then All of Me will always be associated with John Legend, he saves the song until the last encore, the song will be played at weddings for years to come, will be played on the radio when some of today's artists have faded into obscurity and will the song his fans always want to hear him sing.

A night of pure class.

He returns to the Manchester Apollo on Wednesday 15 October 2014.