Photos + Words: Madi Ketley
At the start of 2025, English singer-songwriter JAMES BAY hit the roads on his ‘Up All Night‘ Tour. Starting in Europe the artist then made his way to the UK and will be finishing off in North America in May of this year.
BAY’s immersive show captured the fans attention, having a strong spotlight upon himself but blue and purple background lighting with smaller white lights mocking stars to create the scene of a night sky to accompany the name of his tour. Combined with the lighting it was beautiful to see how loyal BAY’s fan base is, singing along to every word and staying captivated in the experience he had clearly put a lot of time and effort into.
JAMES BAY rose to fame in 2015 with his single ‘Let It Go’ which reached the top 10 in the charts. The fans in the crowd cheered and sang along joyfully when the hit was announced and performed, creating an emotional experience for both the audience and the artist himself. While beautiful lights danced across the crowd, BAY took a step back and allowed his fans to sing the final chorus of ‘Let It Go’ alone, taking in the success the song has brought him over the years.
BAY expressed during his show at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on February 8th 2025 that he found creating the set list to be challenging due to having 4 albums and multiple EP’s to choose songs from. Fans were exposed to a range of songs from Bay’s decade long career and Bay himself stated he noticed how the fans were enjoying the range of songs he had provided for them.
BAY‘s show was very interactive and kept fans on their toes from guitar solos to smoke machines to clapping along to songs, BAY wanted to ensure his fans could interact with him. One memorable moment was when he did a call and response with the crowd before introducing his band and asking the crowd to make some noise for his band.
Finalising the show with second hit from 2015 ‘Hold Back The River’ it was clear fans enjoyed the atmosphere of the show, clapping along at the final chorus and singing their hearts out with Bay in these final moments before he took a bow and left the stage.
Taped Magazine 