“Iʼm so excited to be here man, this is like my favourite place in the world“, American singer Roy Blair proclaimed to the two-hundred person crowd at the top floor of Islington’s Electrowerkz. The twenty-two year old seemed excited and humbled at the sold-out show, as he faced a sea of flailing arms frantically holding onto their phones as they attempted to take a Snapchat of the indie singer.

Of this sold out crowd I was easily in the minority. Most of those in attendance were teenagers; quite a few accompanied by their parents who took a spot at the back of the venue, a short distance from the dancing and moshing in the main crowd. I was caught off-guard by the crowd. Roy Blair’s 2017 album ‘Cat Heaven‘ may have been the sort of indie-pop that attracts a younger fanbase, but his more recent material, like EP ‘GRAFFITI‘ released earlier this year, blended electronic elements, with pop and rap and he received praise from fans and critics alike.

The crowd didn’t impact my enjoyment of the gig; I was taller than most of the sixteen year-olds in attendance and most put their phones down eventually, but it was funny to find the boy in the men’s toilets seemingly throwing up the first alcohol he’d ever drank and the group of girls stood around the block from the entrance, discussing what they’d do if they got breathalysed on entry and who’s Mum could pick them up after.

Roy Blair took the stage shortly after 9pm with no support act before. He was joined on stage by two other guys of similar age who were in charge of the backing music, drum machine and DJ equipment. The concert began with new single, ‘I DON’T KNOW ABOUT HIM‘ and immediately the crowd joined Roy Blair in singing every single word. He jumped and danced about the small stage with an energy that managed to hype up an already energetic crowd, as the 22 year old had no problem with confidence on his debut show.

After a strong opening with his latest material, Blair asked the crowd “Who’s listened to Cat Heaven?” before launching into tracks ‘Happy‘ and ‘Jane‘. As he performed these earlier tracks, the atmosphere at the gig felt more like a stereotypical pop performance, which is by no means a bad thing, but it emphasised to me how much Roy has grown as an artist. His fans loved singing along with his older pop style, but the performances of newer cuts like ‘12345‘ and ‘FANTAZIA‘ demonstrated his real talent and growth.

I had been a bit worried before the gig that Blair’s vocals might not be quite as good in a live setting – obviously I like the studio recordings of his tracks, but a lot of them use autotune or vocal manipulation, so I wasn’t sure what he’d be sound like live. Fortunately I soon learnt that Blair is a very talented vocalist. Over the night he mixed up his performance with some autotune for effect, as well as tracks with no effects on his voice at all, which worked great. He barely missed a note across the night, but there was a comedic moment when he got chatting with an audience member who gave him a DVD of 2002 Hugh Grant rom-com, ‘About A Boy’ (who knows why), but the conversation itself was autotuned throughout.

A few of those who’d likely been camped out for a few hours to guarantee front row at the show began a chant for 2017 track ‘Switchblade‘. Blair acknowledged them but sincerely apologised, “I’m sorry I don’t have it“. This seemed a shame, but the lack of flexibility in setlist highlighted the smaller scale of the show. Equally, after ending the show with a soaring rendition of ‘Hazel‘, Blair left the stage and was met by chants of “One More Song“, which continued for nearly five minutes, but he didn’t return to the stage. The eleven track set had covered all of Blair’s 2019 releases and a fair share of his earlier material, but it still felt like an abrupt ending, as the gig concluded after around 45 minutes. Blair maybe took the idea of ‘leave them wanting more’ a bit too literally, but by the looks of social media, he did later reappear for a meet and greet with fans, but I was likely back home in bed by that stage.

Given Roy Blair’s stage presence, vocal talent and loyal fanbase, I imagine that next time Roy Blair is in London, the venue will be much significantly larger and hopefully he’ll have even more material to perform, as he edges closer to the release of his next full-length project.

Setlist:
1. I DON’T KNOW ABOUT HIM
2. Happy
3. 12345
4. Jane
5. FANTAZIA
6. Above, Not Below
7. Dennis
8. Perfume
9. Thunder
10. YOU WEREN’T ENOUGH
11. Hazel