Live Review: Justin Bieber at the RDS

Could you Belieb it? Minutes before Justin Bieber took to the RDS stage the pavement-melting sun vanished behind ominous clouds and rain began to swirl across the South Dublin venue. Was this an ill omen – or harbinger of a tempestuous evening to come?

Bieber arrived in Dublin after a comparatively uncontroversial Continental tour. True, there had been boos in Sweden after he refused to belt out his Spanish-language hit 'Despacito' (on the not unreasonable grounds that he didn’t speak a word of Spanish).

Yet the bad behaviour that has marked the 23 year old’s transition from teen poppet to adult star has been significantly absent – testament to the new-found maturity that likewise characterises 2015’s Purpose album.

However, if the peevish, out-of-control Bieber of old is gone, the singer nonetheless didn’t appear especially transfixed by the prospect of playing to a sell-out Irish audience. He cut rather a joyless figure as, flanked by dancers and endless fireworks, he bopped, crooned and exchanged back-and-forths with uber-fans up the front.

"You’re Spanish?" he asked a devotee from Spain. "But you’re in Ireland, right?" It all seemed too much for him.

His enthusiasm increased markedly as it came time to demonstrate his chops as a ‘real’ musician. Dispensing with the pout, he strapped on an acoustic guitar and, as he had at the One Love Manchester Concert earlier in this month, put his expressive falsetto to work singing 'Love Yourself'.

It was a stand-out moment – as was the closing dusting-down of 'Sorry', a shimmering smash that showcased his natural charisma as a pop star. Afterwards, as your correspondent plodded home, he was overtaken by two garda outriders and a pair of blacked-out vans. Bieber had exited the building, leaving fans with memories of an enjoyable, if not quite spectacular, performance.