Live Review: X Ambassadors - Scala, London 29/04/2019

We caught X Ambassadors at their Scala headline show last month in London. The band return to the UK as often as they can with their last London show being last March in Electric Brixton. This show comes ahead of their new album ‘ORION’ to be released on the 14th of June and it is the start of their Europe tour this Spring. 

Their London fans have always been some of their most dedicated across the years and it is clear from the energy of the crowd that everyone loves them. You could feel the anticipation amongst the crowd before the band took to the stage. I was pleasantly surprised to find that almost everyone knew the lyrics to their older tracks from their debut album, ‘VHS’. 

They opened the set with their track, ‘Jungle’, hitting the stage with all the energy they could muster up. The crowd was ecstatic, singing along and cheering as Sam Harris, the frontman and vocalist of the band, threw himself around the stage. The eye was drawn to Casey Harris, the keyboard player as he swayed energetically to the music and unbuttoning his shirt between songs to cool himself down and to ease his continuous movements. The excitement to perform the new tracks emanated from all members as they performed ‘BOOM’ and ‘HEY CHILD’, two of the tracks from their upcoming album. 

Keyboardist, Casey, performed a gorgeous instrumental which sent the whole venue into absolute silence. The melody was so delicate and captivating that you couldn’t have even attempted to rouse anyone from their enchantment. This eventually led in to an emotional ‘Unsteady’, the band’s most successful track that initially drew in a lot of fans to their music. Everyone in the room was singing along to every song, which wasn’t surprising when you take into account the devotion of the fans over the number of years. 

Sam did not disappoint as he hit every high note of the ballads and anthems with his incredible range and a voice that, believe it or not, is even better live. Sam dancing his way around the stage, Adam pounding the drums and leading the songs, and Casey swinging his head around and always being pitch-perfect, this vivacious energy transferred to the crowd with ease and there was still so much energy amongst the fans even as the show was drawing to a close. They wrapped up the set with their popular track, ‘Renegades’, and then after a brief interlude, performed ‘Joyful’ as an encore. 

Theres a huge amount of anticipation and excitement surrounding their new album and next tour. We can’t wait to see them in a larger venue and to hear even more fans singing along to their soon to be released album.

Words by Jesse Wells and Photography by Max Herridge.