“THEY KNOW EVERY SONG, EVERY WORD AND EVERY ADLIB” – EMERGING INDIE STAR RETURNS TO GLASGOW

LIVE REVIEW | JAMES MARRIOTT | GLASGOW SWG3 GALVANISERS 18/06/24 by Amanda McEachen

A name that has been no secret to the music scene lately is indie rock singer James Marriott.
Kicking off his music career in 2020, the Brighton musician quickly rose to fame with his debut
single ‘Slow Down‘, which now boasts almost 4 million streams on Spotify.

Since then, James has released two EP’s and his first album Are We There Yet last year. In this time the singer has toured the country, whilst playing at some of the UK’s biggest festivals which included the main stage at Reading and Leeds. Set for the Isle of Wight Festival this year, there’s many more opportunities lined up for James Marriott.

James’ run of tour dates in June were rescheduled from last year, and we had the privilege of attending his show at the SWG3 Galvanizers in Glasgow.

Now this Glasgow crowd had some incredibly big shoes to fill. Last year James performed his first
Scotland show in the iconic King Tuts venue where James later explained on a twitch stream that the Glasgow crowd were one of the loudest audiences that the King Tuts staff had recorded, now that’s an ego boost if I’ve ever heard one! Even then as I entered the venue it was evident that this was going to be a loud crowd. Showering love over support acts Soft Launch and Lexie Carroll with screams and woos left ,right and centre for the talented artists, I couldn’t imagine what noise level they were going to reach for this evenings main act.

The time came around and as 9pm hit, the lights dimmed, and an array of screams echoed the
large SWG3 room as James and his band unveiled themselves from behind the stage. The
introductory chords for ‘Over My Head’ begin playing and the audience began singing every word as
if they’ve memorized a script from the night before. It was quickly evident during the first few songs
was that James Marriott fans are FANS; they will know every song, every word and every ad
lib, it was mesmerizing.

A definite heartwarming moment during the set was when James played ‘Car Lights‘, a song that
clearly means a lot to James and his fans. James explained before the song started that he will
never forget how moving it was playing ‘Car Lights‘ at King Tuts the year before, he then
proceeded to thank the crowd for this moment. For the entire song the audience waved pride flags
with joy which created a beautiful unity in the crowd while they screamed every lyric they could.
The vibe was soon changed as James went straight into energetic and upbeat song ‘Sleeping on
Trains‘; however, it was soon clear that no matter which song was being played, the Scottish crowd
danced and sang with every opportunity.

A compliment I must credit this gig with is the magnificent lighting that was used throughout the set.
The lighting was perfectly utilized and changed for each song to match its own vibe (such as purple
and green during the song ‘Grapes‘). It made the entire room feel electric, buzzing when it
needed be and perfectly captured how each track was to be portrayed. After an anticipated encore
James finished his set with ‘Romanticise This‘ and no matter how many words the crowd sang that
night they still screamed this last song as if it were the first as energy and happiness rifled
throughout the whole room

James Marriott’s show at the SWG3 Glasgow was a prime example of dedicated fans showing up for their favourite artist and tearing the absolute roof down. James’ stage presence was infectious and radiating throughout the whole night while the crowd delivered nothing but the same energy back. It’s no doubt that James and the band will be eager to return to Scotland after that gig and I’m sure the fans will be riveting for another concert. In the meantime, I’m sure James will continue to release incredible music and make a great name for himself in the live gig scene.

Setlist

1. Over My Head
2. Him
3. You Are Here
4. So Long
5. Where Has Everyone Gone?
6. In Between
7. Going Postal at the Party
8. The Other Side
9. Car Lights
10. Sleeping on Trains
11. White Noise
12. Denial
13. Don’t Blame me (x2)
14. Grapes
15. Romanticise This

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