Review
Review
The Lathums kickstart their UK tour by begging the crowd to not buy the new Slowthai album
The indie darlings take to the stage in Sheffield after the release of their own new record, From Nothing To A Little Bit More
The O2 Academy is draped with artificial plants. Instruments are tuned. And a giddy crowd sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ as they wait for The Lathums to come on, but the gig gets off to an odd start. Lead singer Alex Moore enters stage right on his own and borderline begs the crowd to buy copies of the new album so he can beat Slowthai to number one. Awkward introduction aside, the minute Moore starts singing instead of selling, the crowd remember why they’re there.
Leaving the stage after playing a section of the 8-minute epic ‘Undeserving’ from the new album, Moore returns moments later. “I feel like I’ve seen you all before?” he quips, before the band bursts into new hit single ‘Say My Name’, bouncing off every corner of the room and setting the stage for the next hour.
The Lathums have had the kind of rise every band dreams of. They wrote some bangers, played some pubs and then had a No.1 album. What you see now is a more refined and tighter sounding expansion on that original formula, and it makes for a good second album but an even better live experience. Despite still being in its infancy, songs from the new record like ‘Lucky Bean’ and ‘I Know Pt 1’ are met with awe-inspired singalong throughout.
There’s no doubting what people were there for though. Songs from the first album like ‘Fight On’ and ‘The Great Escape’ were met with roars from the crowd, towers of fans on shoulders and lights from phone screens capturing the moment. The Lathums delivered every tune perfectly and are clearly showing their debut wasn’t a fluke – making for an incredibly fun gig. Here’s to the next one. Oh, and don’t forget to buy that album…
The Lathums are playing UK shows in March and June. Get tickets here.