Escaping the ever-present threat of rain to the Octagon was a good idea for many in Sheffield this Thursday night. James Marriott took the stage to fill the room with his upbeat tunes, some slower, more emotional ballads and good old-fashioned indie energy.
Esme Emerson took the stage before James to warm the crowd with their high energy low-fi sound. The sibling pair provided a friendly atmosphere to the crowded room, with the layering of the masculine under the core feminine vocals providing depth to a lot of their songs. The group’s family atmosphere with jokes about their mum alongside their songs’ themes of queerness, sadness and support provided a welcoming prelude before the main show.
The main set opened the same as James’ new album with the song ‘Ventriloquist’. Live, however, the track seemed higher energy – possibly due to the roar of the crowd or its pressured position as first up on the setlist. The show continued to follow the tracklist of his album for a few more songs, notably skipping “It’s Only Love” a slow fan favourite that he saved for later.
This high-energy start had the crowd clearly excited, with classic “Yorkshire, Yorkshire” chants filling the room. However, and confusingly, here was a lack of real movement throughout the youth-heavy crowd despite their clear excitement.
After this the set definitely slowed down, as the Octagon was filled with emotion through Marriot’s powerful ballads. It mirrored opener Esme Emerson’s themes of queerness and sadness, and allowed James’ band a chance to catch their breath. During these songs the vocal strengths of the artist really shined with added riffs, vocalisations to finish the songs, really conveying the great emotion that was tangible within the room.
Some of my personal highlights such as “Don’t Blame Me”, saw the crowd finally finding its feet and engaging fully in the beat. James rallied with the people here too, joking “It’s quite hard to make a setlist everyone likes”, giving the audience a choice of song which we happily picked “Going Postal at the Party”.
Marriott and the band provided great energy throughout the show, moving and dancing around the stage constantly, a feeling that eventually seemed to resonate everywhere in the room. The playful actions on the stage slowly unlocked more comfort in the crowd, building up to a strong finish with two of James’ most energetic tracks.
Obviously, I got involved in the mosh pits, called for from the stage to the rowdiest part of the room. “Sleeping on Trains” and “Grapes”, both songs from previous albums, got a huge response from the crowd and multiple pits formed for every chorus, with people rushing from across the venue to join. Despite not being the hardest pits I’ve ever been in, they definitely made up with an enthusiasm that is hard to replicate. Everyone moved together and James lit up the room with the strength of his vocals and the backing of the guitars and drums.
The room caught its breath as these two strong songs were smartly broken up with bonus songs “Limbs”, which he joked was a reward for the crowd’s enthusiasm, and a calming rendition of “Toothache”. For “Limbs” the band left the stage, creating a special, intimate moment between James as a solo artist and the loyal room (those who braved the weather to attend).
The show ended full of energy, with the crowd caught up in the temporary community that had built over the 18 tracks. A quick scan of the crowd revealed everyone, from the occasional young kid with parents to the more experience, hardened gig pros – but all left knowing what we had just witnessed was electric.
James continues on his EU and UK tour before flying out down under to to Australia. Whether you’re a previous fan or a new listener this show will wow you, and I cannot recommend it enough.
9/10
