“ROYSTON, ROYSTON, ROYSTON!” I hear about 3500 people hollering behind me as fans filter through the maze that is Victoria Warehouse in Manchester. After surviving what I can only call a recreation of the movie 1917 (without the atrocities, though trench foot seemed likely), in the queue I slide down to the side of the pit to avoid the middlem, after hearing stories of people moshing, which is a can of worms in itself. It is an indie gig. Why are we moshing people?!
The aforementioned ‘Royston’ chant occurred multiple times in the queue, which definitely told surrounding civilians what people were queuing for. It was there again during the support which was upcoming bands Permanent (Joy) and overpass. Fans lovingly referred to the concept of both Overpass and The Royston Club as ‘Roystonpass’ because of the overlap between fans.
Sending a shiver down my spine as the lights dim The Royston club emerge from the depths of the stage and launch into ‘Shivers’, the opener from their latest album Songs For the Spine. Time slips away as frontman Tom Faithfull grabs the microphone from its stand and commands the crowd with ease, the lights precisely hitting the bull on their backdrop, also seen on their album cover, to make its eyes glare.
Going from strength to strength the reaction from the crowd doesn’t dip as the joyous riff of ‘Mrs Narcissistic’ blares through the speakers. The crowd doesn’t need any prompt from the frontman to be louder during this one as it is a staple in their live sets. It might seem surprising that one of their older songs should still be one of their most popular. Despite this, I think people might riot if it ever left the set. Honestly, I think they could’ve just put the microphone towards the crowd for the majority of ‘Mrs Narcissistic’ and just walked off stage. Believe it or not I think the crowd could’ve carried on fine. That could be said a lot about the Royston Club’s songs on this setlist as they are in such a unique position coming off the back of their chart breaking second album Songs for the Spine where they are able to sell out multiple venues and for not even a single moment is the crowd dreading that one overplayed song will get unwanted attention again.
‘A tender curiosity’
The lights develop a pink hue as bassist Dave Tute and drummer Sam Jones leave the stage to just Tom Faithfull and lead guitarist and main songwriter Ben Mathias as they adorn acoustic guitars as we enter the ‘calm down and take a breath’ segment of the show. Sharing just one microphone in a very George Harrison and Paul McCartney early Beatles scenario, the ballad ‘A Tender Curiosity’ is sang in a charming duet between them both. From this they blended into a cover of the Kinks hit ‘Waterloo Sunset’ that was genuinely heavenly to hear. It wasn’t just the song choice alone but the fact that they put their own interchangeable vocal split on the song, similarly to when Ray Davis did it with Blur frontman Damon Albarn.
Unreleased songs on a tour can always be hit or miss, luckily for the Royston Club it was a hit when they introduced the song ‘Puddles’. Before a lot of gigs on this leg of the tour they did a free acoustic show at independent record stores where they debuted this song. Through social media, fans became aware enough to know a few lyrics to put a stop to that awkward vibe that sometimes happens with new tunes.
To be quite honest I never really cared for the song ‘The Ballad of Glen Campbell’ until I heard the last chorus live. An epic album closer fills the venue and tugs on heartstrings as Faithfull roars, “I’m so smitten by you.” An interesting piece of equipment was used at the end of the song to recreate a radio effect from the 1940s as he reflects on finally moving on from a past relationship onto newer times.
For an encore, it must have been really hard to pick what songs to choose from as most of the ones bursting with energy had already been heard. There could be none better than ‘52’ which shook every indie kid’s stereo when it was released in 2023. It even shook the crowd so viciously they had to stop the show and from here on out is where the whole concert fell into disrepair.
Who starts a fight…?
Due to a crowd incident they had to stop before the second chorus. No fear – the song was restarted without missing a beat. A full switch of vibes now to the song which swept the internet in popularity, ‘Cariad.’ Even before even the ballad’s introductory lines, I knew it was going to be a hectic adventure. Tom Faithfull’s acoustic guitar was experiencing issues, so originally they started the song guitar-less which sounds great until you realise that in the song, the acoustic guitar is the main instrument. There must be a curse within second choruses at the Royston Club as once again they had to stop the show, due to fighting this time. Who starts a fight during the saddest song of the night? A beautiful crowd moment surfaced during this as fans continued to sing the song without the band’s guidance. Manchester, luckily, got ‘Cariad’ twice that night as the concert from here on out moved swiftly without a hitch. Its safe to say that you didn’t just see The Royston Club at Victoria Warehouse, you survived them.
Music journalists Freya Hoare, Leah Simons and Izzy Hurcum discuss The Royston Club’s Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, gig.
