An aspiring musician playing in a hotel bar has been cast into the limelight after he was asked to stand in for Olly Murs and perform in front of a 14,000-strong crowd opening for Take That.
Singer and guitarist Daniel Rooney found himself supporting the boy band, with frontman Gary Barlow later saying the lad had ‘saved the day’.
After Olly Murs, 39, who was supposed to open for Take That at the Hydro in Glasgow, was forced to cancel, the unidentified Scottish artist was given the job.
Mr Rooney was playing in a bar in the city when he was spotted by celebrity correspondent and TV presenter Ross King.
Mr Rooney, a Cambuslang resident, left King feeling so good that he suggested Take That hire him as a last-minute substitute, allowing the young vocalist thirty minutes to get to the Hydro.
And the gamble appeared to pay off, with the crowd at the sell-out gig giving the newcomer a raucous welcome.
As he sang renditions of beloved songs, such as Paolo Nutini’s 2009 song Candy and Stealers Wheel’s classic song from the 1970s, the audience enthusiastically joined in.
Gary Barlow thanked the artist, whose career is sure to blow up overnight, on Instagram, saying: ‘This young man saved the day. Thank you, @danielrooney_music.’
Murs had to wait eight and a half hours at Heathrow Airport before his BA flight was cancelled, so Danny had to step in. The 39-year-old claimed he had never missed a performance in his life, particularly when it was backing a worldwide ensemble.
New fans of Daniel’s also took to social media to heap praise on the newcomer, saying he ‘saved the day’ for everyone attending the concert.
One said: ‘Huge congrats to Daniel Rooney of Cambuslang. Filling in on 30 minutes notice for Olly Murs, who was stuck in London. What a fab intro to the big stage.’
Another fan wrote: ‘Daniel Rooney from Cambuslang smashed it in your absence! Loved his performance’.
Meanwhile, one fan told the Daily Record: ‘Daniel was great, I preferred him to Olly; I hope he makes it big.’
‘Daniel Rooney smashed it,’ Lorraine Cant wrote on X/Twitter. ‘He’s no Olly Murs, but gave an incredible performance with 30 minutes notice!’
A gobsmacked Daniel said after his Hydro performance, ‘It’s hard to take it in, it’s really surreal’.
Danny is quite optimistic that the chance will help him establish a stage on which to perform his own songs as a solo artist.
You would have thought that Olly Murs would have flown up the night before, considering this was a very big gig. It was not such a good idea to leave it till the last minute, and by the time he realised his flight was going to be cancelled, he couldn’t even drive up in time.
I’m not sure why you would leave something this important in the hands of British Airways, who are famed for cancelling their flights. They’re no longer an airline, which represents quality. Anyway, it gave this young lad some exposure, and what an experience for him.
Or perhaps this was just a stunt to showcase a new artist—Olly would do something like that, and this is a nice story for a change, rather than all the awful news we get these days.
This lad was really good, and it looked like everybody loved him. What a baptism of fire, from playing in a bar to a full house of people. Hats off to him. It couldn’t have been easy at such short notice.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 