Live Review: James Bay - 100 Club, London 05/03/2025
One of the UK’s best singer-songwriters traded in the gravitas and glamour of Wembley for the incredible intimacy of 100 Club, all for charity — speaking of which, text HOPE to 70123 to donate £10 to War Child!
Everyone has their favourite times of the year. Whether it’s something seasonal, like days getting warmer as we approach the Summer, or something a little more niche, like getting the excuse to gorge on some pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. The music world has similar; a personal highlight is when festival lineups drop each year, often bringing with them the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. A close second, in the UK at least, is the BRIT Awards. Not necessarily for the award ceremony itself, although congratulations to all of the worthy winners — but for the incredibly intimate gigs that get put on around it. Put on in support of the charity War Child since 2009, and raising over £7 million in the process, past years’ highlights have included Muse or Coldplay at O2 Shepherd’s Bush, Bring Me The Horizon at The Dome, Ed Sheeran at Indigo At The O2 and The 1975 at The Garage; this year, the highlight’s undoubtedly the chance to see the inimitable, angelic-voiced troubadour James Bay somewhere as tiny as Tottenham Court Road’s The 100 Club.
James Bay isn’t a stranger to intimate gigs. Most artists aren’t, really, having had to cut their teeth on the road up. But James Bay really isn’t — it was only a few months ago that he played three nights at The Troubadour, debuting tracks from his then-upcoming fourth album, ‘Changes All The Time’. And yet, in light of his (well-deserved) sold out show at OVO Wembley a few weeks ago, seeing him in equally personal settings felt almost surreal, and that same sense of awestruck wonder was reflected in every face crammed into the little semi-underground venue.
Though, before being graced with James Bay himself, the crowd were greeted with the acoustic duo of Ben Ellis, an appearance that was met with some shrieks of surprise from the crowd, a loud contingent of fans singing along, and at least one person FaceTiming her friend at home, happily singing along from her bedroom. Having just returned from their own headline show, you could hear the excitement in his voice as he tore through several tracks from his slowly growing discography. Passionate, emotional and heartfelt, even handling some technical difficulties with a smile on his face, Ben Ellis seemed as ecstatic to be there as the glowing faces arrayed in front of him; from the likes of ‘No One Sleeps In Hollywood’ or the “edgy and cool” ‘Red Handed’ — which, in all fairness, lived up to its reputation (at least comparatively) to the pantomimic 'awwws' of the unreleased ‘Where She Goes’ or the dialled back, chilled out cover of Olivia Newton John’s ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’, the set was as beautiful as it was brief. It’s just a shame that the doors hadn’t opened sooner so that more of the proverbial golden ticket holders could have experienced it too.
“Who cares about live music, it’s all about the TikToks” he (hopefully) joked before closer ‘Does It Get Cold In California’, the light-hearted comment about how criminally underfunded the grassroots music industry has become preceding the surprisingly upbeat song — and then his half an hour was up, and it was time to vacate the stage (although he still managed to squeeze in some time to pose for photos with some fans over at the merch table!)
Before the man of the hour arrived, however, it was important to remember why the BRITs week gigs are a thing — and a War Child representative was there for that very reason. War Child help millions of children all around the world who are caught up in conflict; from the likes of the more publicised war zones of Gaza and Ukraine to the lesser known travesties like the conflicts taking place in the Central Republic of Congo, War Child as an organisation dedicates their time to help them, from short-term help like medical supplies or counselling to longer term goals like helping to fund education. With all the proceeds from the night being donated to helping their efforts, helped by the likes of the donation stations or the night’s exclusive t-shirts (some of which were already dotted about the crowd), you couldn’t ask for a more worthy cause.
And then it was time for the main man himself. Alone on the stage, a few guitars dotted around him, it promised to be a truly stripped-back affair; and, with opener ‘Up All Night’, the signature cowboy hat perched on his head as he crooned his way through last year’s anthemic, feature-packed single, the joy in the room was palpable; even the guitar cutting out was drowned out by the singing crowd. Even James Bay himself was feeling the love, regaling the room with his own stories about the venue: “I came to the 100 Club when I was about 19, and I remember reading about all the figures who have played here”, he revealed, a photo of Amy Winehouse glowering at him from the wall on his left; “I’m so glad to finally get to play here too’.
So was everyone in that room — although it might have only been a short set, it was still full of surprises. Tracks like ‘If You Ever Want To Be In Love’ or ‘Us’ are to be expected, of course, alongside the usual suspect of ‘Let It Go’ — but the inclusion of the still-criminally underplayed ‘Clocks Go Forward’, the room pin drop silent bar the odd unintentional noises of amazement, the deep cut of ‘Wait In Line’ (for the sixth ever time, as of setlist.fm), or even the quick snippet of Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’, left the night feeling truly one of a kind.
And, finally, what other song could end the night but ‘Hold Back The River’, phones rising from the crowd like restless spirits as cameras sought to record what’s inarguably one of the biggest songs of the past decade? Though, speaking of songs from ‘Chaos And The Calm’, even just the setlist allocation felt unique: only three of the ten songs belonged to something other than the just-turning-ten debut album. Even less, if you include ‘Layla’ and the quick snippet of Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ that preceded ‘Scars’. Simply fantastic.
A short, sweaty and undeniably sweet set in celebration of the most deserving of charities. What could be better?
Words by James O’Sullivan
Photo credit: @wwolnyphotography
