Live: Gavin James, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
- Written by Joe Watson
Gavin James has been gathering fans at an electric pace with his acoustic performances. The title track from his début Say Hello EP also scooped the Choice Meteor ‘Song of the Year Award’ for 2012 whilst the EP itself entered the Irish iTunes album chart at number 1. This is why we arrive early to catch his support slot for fellow compatriots Kodaline - which eventually pans out be a night of top performances.
Gavin takes no time in racking up a few more fans with a well-rounded acoustic set that could be easily summed up as “pure magic”. Gavin cuts out all the nonsense with no need for frolics or gimmicks. All this 21 year old needs is a pen, piece of paper, guitar and his voice then everything else from there on is just natural talent and as good as any of his contemporaries.
Every song is delivered with careful precision to ensure that each is a special experience for the crowd . Gavin’s ability to engage with them is simply brilliant; even as his phone was ringing in his pocket or stopping mid song to declare that he “forgot the fucking words and I know I should be carrying on”, the intimacy from the King Tut’s venue somehow makes it feel like he could be sitting in your living room knocking out a few bars.
This is epitomised when he turns off the microphone and crouches over the crowd to do his cover of the Eddy Arnold classic ‘You Don’t Know Me’. It’s also an incredibly brave thing to do when you’re essentially the support act. You would need to have complete confidence that the waiting crowd will shut up - and from the first finger pluck of the guitar, you could have heard a pin drop. This is in stark contrast to when he’s engaging the crowd in a sing-along, having ran through a rehearsal with them before starting .
His set finally over but the night isn't finished for Gavin yet. It’s not often you hear the crowd shout for an encore for the first support act of the night and possibly due to a strict schedule, Gavin can't oblige. There is sheer delight though from the rousing audience when he joined Kodaline to perform ‘All I Want’ at the end of the evening. I suspect that anyone who is here won’t be forgetting his name in a hurry and he’s definitely one that we’ll be keeping an eye out for in the future.