SPINE-TINGLING: THE ROYSTON CLUB BRING THEIR NEW RECORD TO SHEFFIELD

LIVE REVIEW | THE ROYSTON CLUB w/ Permanent (Joy), Feet | THE OCTAGON, SHEFFIELD | 1st November 2025 by Isobel O’Mahony

The Royston Club have been steady uprisers on the indie scene since 2019, and their newest, brilliant record Songs for the Spine only cemented their high standing in a booming, and often overwhelming genre. The album tour is the bands biggest yet, bringing a mix of the new release and fan favourites to stages up and down the UK. At the weekend, Sheffield’s Octagon hosted their date of the sold-out tour and what better way to spend a Saturday night than screaming ‘Miss Narcissistic’ at the top of your lungs?

As for supports, Liverpool band Permanent (Joy) were out first with a pretty good crowd so early on. Their set included maracas, a rather jarring whistle break and the most important instrument – confidence that you’ve already ‘made it’. They really held their own on stage and it was a solid first set. Feet, yes that’s a band called Feet, had a similarly immediate confidence and style, despite bringing a different sound. It was that sort of seductive 90s Britpop, that’s incredibly pretentious but incredibly charming. Safe to say, their tambourine-heavy performance left a lot of people thinking ‘Huh, I quite like Feet’.

The main lads took the stage, heading straight into new tracks ‘The Patch Where Nothing Grows’ and ‘Glued to the Bed‘. Instantaneously, the crowd was chanting back lyrics and loudly. There was a clear loyal love from the audience, especially for any of the tunes off of the new record. Not to say that this enthusiasm faltered when the band revisited tracks off of previous 2023 album Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars.

Off the previous record, ‘Blisters’, ‘I’m A Liar’ and ‘Marina’ were great, but the duet between guitarist Ben Mattias and lead singer/guitarist Tom Faithful for ‘A Tender Curiosity’ was an unexpected but gorgeous break in such a fast, reeling show. Just the spotlight on them, it reflected the intimacy of such a packed crowd onto the stage. The acoustic intro into arguably on of their biggest tracks, ‘Miss Narcissistic’, was again a soft wave over the setlist and was almost used as a marker between their new stuff and the previous work. Its all loved, by the fans and the band, but SFTS just had that star sound the band were discovering on their first few releases.

On stage it was indie rock with wings, the latest tracks really taking off in a live setting. ‘Crowbar’ followed by ‘Curses and Spit’ was a heavy punch of drums and bass riffs, and ’30/20′ is a personal favourite that embodied what you want in release tour for me, the album played as its recorded but hitting and sounding even better. Stellar and viral ‘Cariad’ closed the show, to some seeming an odd, slightly heart-breaking tune to end on. However, that bridge really carries the performance home.

The Royston Club clearly know how to put on a good gig. If anything, it was gone too fast and I would’ve loved a little more time for them to explore the tracks a little in the pauses. The crowd got a little rowdy in my section (someone needs to reign in some of the pre-teen gig-goers), but overall an audience that knows the tunes as loudly as this can never make for a bad gig. The band have two more slots on their UK tour, Cardiff and Liverpool, and they’re definitely ones that you should catch!