Rapidly rising Dublin musician, Gavin James has been capturing success in different forms ever since being crowned the winner of Meteor Choice song of the year 2012.
Last night saw him perform to a massive crowd in The Academy, Dublin- ranking as one of the biggest headline shows Gavin has played to date.
After two great sets from two initial support acts at the very beginning of the night, it was time for Gav’s special guest to grace the very excited crowd. Receiving a huge welcome from his already respectable Irish fan base; British singer-songwriter, Jamie Lawson occupied the stage for a wonderful set. With a similar acoustic vibe throughout his sound, he was definitely appreciated as the fans proceeded to fill the venue. Showcasing songs from his new EP- ‘Between Each Breath’, such as ‘The Quiet Man’, before easing into his massively acclaimed internet hit- ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’, which captured gazes and maximum attention from a largely dispersed audience.
Skipping onto the stage to roars and screeches from every corner, Gavin James was out to perform. Beginning with the soothing guitar chords of ‘Carolina’, reducing the crowd to deafening silence for its duration, but inevitably taking a turn towards the massive uproar of appreciation as it reached the more upbeat halfway mark. Belting every ounce of power onto his guitar strings, Gav rocked the first part of this slick set; and did beautifully.
Following some light-hearted chat with the crowd, ‘Nervous’ was sent flowing around this main room of The Academy. Executing the high notes with perfection, the stage was met by expressions of amazement, which were almost comforted by Gavin’s graceful stage presence.
Jazzing it up, the electric guitar made an appearance for ‘Lucky’. A few more tracks charmed the night before the two-piece band were introduced on keyboard and cello. The clearly well-known sound of ‘For You’ forced the accompaniment of a mass of voices who hadn’t taken their eyes off the stage once. Encouraging a singsong for ‘Coming Home’ , Gav seemed pleasantly surprised at the response from a venue he was clearly happy to be headlining.
Holding a pure passion and delightful showmanship, the star of the night made his spot in the middle of the crowd to perform a stripped back song amongst such a communal atmosphere. What Gav described as “the last song, until you all scream and we come back on”, turned out to be the song of the night for me. Throwing all forces into the Meteor Choice Song of the Year 2012, ‘Say Hello’, resulted in a mere representation of the night as a whole.
Departing the stage with his band, there was only one thing missing from everyones’ expectations; and trust Gavin James to meet it. Returning on stage alone to provide us with his much loved, recent cover of Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’, which only went and grabbed itself over 70,000 views during the last two weeks.
With an exceptional stage presence making his talent so pleasant to witness live, Gavin James will be selling out massive venues in the very near future- Just remember where you heard it first!