The Crowd Were Loving It And Singing Along To Every Song
Hot on the heels of their UK number 1 hit debut album “How Beautiful Life Can Be” Wigan’s indie band The Lathums continued their 2021 tour with a sold out, almost hometown gig at Manchester Victoria Warehouse. And All Music’s Warren Millar was there to catch the event.
With a venue change to the bigger O2 Manchester Victoria Warehouse due to ticket demand this was one gig that the growing number of North West “Lathums” fans did not want to miss.
The Lathums line up singer/songwriter and guitarist Alex Moore, lead guitarist Scott Concepcion, bassist Johnny Cunliffe, and drummer Ryan Durrans are keeping themselves busy with this gig being one of over 20 gigs lined up over the U.K. before Christmas.
Up first on tonight’s bill were another Wigan based band the “Stanley’s” who seem to have brought with them plenty of support of their own, and they made quite the noise as the band came on to the stage. From the moment they started their set they had the crowd singing along, seeming to know the words to each song. With Lead singer Tom Concannon strutting around on stage like a young Ian Brown, The Stanley’s delivered a set of Stone Roses inspired indie, a great way to start the evening.
Next up on stage was Glaswegian singer songwriter “Rianne Downey” with her take on country rock. The standout moment for me was when her band left her on stage, and she stripped it back, so it was her and an acoustic guitar and she delivered a beautiful rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Your Just Too Good to Be True) she invited the crowd to sing along to, which they happily obliged. Rianne has a voice so big it defies her petit size.
I must give a mention here to the soundman’s tunes during set change overs he really did get the crowd amped, his choice of music was on point for this already excited indie crowd The Artic Monkeys, The Smiths, The Stone Roses and the now the almost obligatory Sweet Caroline, filed the Victoria Warehouse and the crowd were loving it.
Then the house lights dimmed, and the PA played The Housemartins – “Caravan of Love” as the four lads from Wigan came on stage all looking great in suits, very smart indeed. Alex shouted “Hello Manchester” and the band went straight into their first song “Fight On”
They were tight and sounded bloody great and you could see they were really enjoying it on the Victoria Warehouse’s big stage. The crowd were loving it and singing along to every song which, which must be amazing for the band to witness and always a great sign in this writer’s mind.
Halfway through Alex did a few acoustic songs, staring with the title track of their album “How Beautiful Life Can Be” which let his voice take centre stage and showed us another different and very talented side to the band.
But before we all knew it was over, then much to the delight of the now baying crowd the guys came back on stage for encores which started with “Circles of Faith” and ending with the brilliant, “Artificial Screens”
All in All, what a great night and if you aren’t already Watch out for “The Lathums” They are going places!!
Set List
1/ Fight On
2/ I Won’t Lie
3/ I’ll Get By
4/ Oh My Love
5/ The Great Escape
6/ I Know That Much
7/ This Place O’ Yours
8/ How Beautiful Life Can Be
9/ I’ll Never Forget the Time I Spent with You
10/ All My Life
ENCORE
11/ Circles Of Faith
12/ Sad Face Baby
13/ It Won’t Take Long
14/ I See Your Ghost
15/ The Redemption of Sonic Beauty
16/ Artificial Screens
FOLLOW THE LATHUMS
FOLLOW THE STANLEYS
FOLLOW RIANNE DOWNEY
Warren is a live music and festival photographer based in Cheshire and covers gigs/festivals mostly in the North West of England. He has been photographing live music for over 10 years and has covered major artists and festivals
