Photo Credit: Alicia Woods
Now with their third record released into the world, Wigan based quartet THE LATHUMS embarked on a UK headline tour to bring both the new tracks and old favourites to the stage with a visit to Sheffield’s full house at the Octagon Centre.
Manchester four piece ARKAYLA, who are already establishing themselves with little to no help, opened the evening. The already packed venue crowded to the front to take their place and soak in the music as they opened their set with ‘Long Way Back‘. The upbeat tempo set the tone for the evening, as the band didn’t waste any time in demonstrating their essence; ‘Rita‘ had a far more enthusiastic reception and certainly attracted a bunch of new fans on the night. After expressing their thanks to the headline act, they ended their stand out performance on the night with ‘Falling Down‘.
Before long, the half-hour break came to an end, and THE LATHUMS entered the stage. As the quartet took their podiums and began with ‘No Direction‘, taken from their most recent album, they were greeted with a thunderous cheer. The whaling guitar solo was as clinical as it was on the record, and the crowd wasted no time in jumping around as the energy was electric from the get go. Fan favourite ‘Say My Name‘, kept up the positive atmosphere, making it very clear the Sheffield crowd were already heavily invested.
Ten of the twelve tunes from the band’s third album, ‘Matter Does Not Define‘, were performed on the night, giving it an almost complete runout on this tour, but ‘Heartbreaker‘ received the warmest reception of all. The energy in the room with folk on shoulders, dancing and singing along proved that it is among THE LATHUMS‘ most adored songs to date, from the joint “la la la’s” to clapping along throughout the whole song.
A short acoustic solo slot from frontman Alex Moore then followed, which saw him perform stripped back versions of ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be‘ and ‘All My Life‘. The capacity crowd flawlessly matched Moore’s vocals, beaming from ear to ear with the very positive reaction. The band returned to the stage and kicked off with ‘The Great Escape‘ as normal service resumed, with further material from both their debut and latest release mixed up to give it a past-to-present feel, concluding with ‘Fight On‘ to bow out of the evening. The audience was clamouring for more, with an encore looming.
Moore thanked the audience for their support of their most recent album as THE LATHUMS returned to the stage for a three-track finale. The ‘Matter Does Not Define‘ material was wrapped up with ‘Long Shadows‘ and ‘Stellar Cast‘, with ‘Sad Baby Face‘ serving as the conclusion to offer the Sheffield audience one final opportunity to let loose, and they most definitely did not let them down.
Taped Magazine 