Fresh off the back of a number one album for’ The Theory of Whatever’ – his first in 6 years – Jamie T played a sold out outstore gig on Saturday evening for Vinilo Record Store at the Engine Rooms in Southampton.
Arriving at the venue was like being taken back in time with the tunes that were being played by the DJ. Every track was from the mid noughties when Jamie T burst on to the scene, a time that I remember very fondly with the many indie club nights that seemed to be on every other night in Southsea and the plethora of gigs that coincided with this time. I remember when I first heard Salvador by Jamie T and it completely blew my mind, scrambling to find a download for the song and also setting it as my MySpace profile tune straight away (who remembers that being a thing!).
Jamie arrived on stage to a crescendo of noise from the crowd who were in rowdy spirits. He looked like he could have been nursing a sore head but you could forgive him given the previous day that his album reached number one, it would have been rude not to have celebrated. Jamie was flying solo tonight without the band with just him and his multiple acoustic and bass guitars. Starting the set with ‘Brand New Bass Guitar’ the crowd set the tone immediately for the evening ahead with singing every single lyric at the top of their voices. This made it difficult at times to hear Jamie’s vocals but made for a great atmosphere in the venue.
Given this outstore was in support of his latest album, you would have thought that most of the new material would have been played but it was quite the opposite. ‘St George’s Wharf’ was the only notable number from ‘The Theory of Whatever’ together with a number that didn’t quite make the cut for the album which, if I remember rightly, was titled ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. There was ‘St Christopher’ from the Sticks & Stones EP which fits the acoustic nature of the gig along with ‘Emily’s Heart’. Jamie did apologise as it had been some time since he had played without the band but this was no problem for the crowd who were just happy to be seeing their hero play a few numbers. ‘The Prophet’ from 2014’s “Carry on The Grudge’ was thrown into the mix before the fine trio of ‘Back In The Game’, ‘If You Got The Money’ and ‘Sticks ’N’ Stones’ – which provided the biggest singalongs of the evening helping Jamie to close out the 40 minute set.
Jamie will be touring the album with his full band later this year and remaining tickets can be found here.
