Royston Club at Koko

Having seen the Royston Club earlier in the year supporting Miles Kane I thought I would see them again as headliners in their own right. It was a good move on my part!

They had two support acts, the first being young Alex Spencer, who had been the opening act when I saw Miles Kane. Then he announced he was 16, in the way one does when one is ridiculously young to be performing. I mean no one would announce themselves, "Hi my name is Alex and I am 32." Anyway, this time he announced himself as 17. Time moves on😀

Different perspective for me. Koko is a small theatre venue, so rather than stand at the front I sometimes go upstairs and stand at the front balcony. A little further away from the action but still an unobstructed view, which is the key consideration when you are under 5 foot 5!

Alex's band was the same as last time except the rather diffident looking lad on bass had been replaced by a much cooler looking young lady.

Anyway, the key thing with this young lad is he can sing well and he has great natural stage presence. You want to like him. That helps a lot. He writes his own stuff which sounds fine but I am not sure really how good it is - always hard to say when listening to new material whether it is good or just in your comfort zone in terms of genre.

As I commented last time, although he introduces his band members, and seemed to have a great rapport with his keyboard player, I think its a shame they just go under his name rather than a band name. I like the idea of collective performance!

The second support was a three piece called Swim School. Clearly a much more experienced outfit. First thing that struck me was just how very heavy and loud they were. Which I always feel is an issue with a female lead singer. Even a young lady with a pretty powerful voice like this one just doesn't produce vocals big enough to go over the top of the guitars.

The other catch compared to the opener is just that lack of stage presence, all the more noticeable when sandwiched between two acts that have it. It is not an easy talent to describe, but some acts (and generally here I mean lead vocalists) just totally draw the eye, usually by the way they move, or by their patter with the audience. Just something a little indefinable. But it is what makes the total live experience. Otherwise one might as well listen at home. This lot just didn't have it.

And finally to the main course, the Royston Club. A band hailing from Wrexham, not known as a hotbed of music they play just the catchy indie songs I like. This was the third time I have seen them and definitely the best. As far as I am concerned they have it all. Like the genre, and Tom Faithfull has it all - excellent really powerful voice over the guitars and just the cool easy magnetism you want. You just enjoy watching him.

Note the Welsh flag!

And it wasn't just me that enjoyed this. The crowd was far more lively than at the Miles Kane gig. It was fun watching from my vantage point as below was a bouncing swirling mass of young people forming endless mosh pits, like watching a human version of an eddying mountain stream.

Below is the view sideways from where I was standing, showing the sound and lighting controls just below the balcony, and the boxes at the side which show that this was once an old style theatre.

 So all in all a very good night. And a nice venue, just the right size at a bit over 1000 capacity