Photo Credit: Alana Bennett
Words: Esme Brigden
Two albums in and with a rapidly growing reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting live bands, Wrexham’s The Royston Club arrived in London for their biggest headline show to date, carrying a level of momentum that few bands on the current indie circuit can match. Taking over the sold-out 3,300-capacity Roundhouse, the night felt like a confirmation of the band steadily growing into something far bigger; equal parts explosive and emotionally resonant, the set showcased exactly why The Royston Club’s rise has felt so natural: songs built for huge singalongs and a fanbase invested in every word.
The night was opened by Jasper Hodges, taking to the stage solo and armed with only an acoustic guitar, having previously supported The Royston Club in late 2025. Opening with ‘Here & Now’, Hodges immediately set about warming up the crowd, teaching them the chorus and encouraging the early arrivals to sing along. He explained that his most recent single, ‘NOMAD’, was inspired by his experience travelling across Europe while supporting the band the previous November, reflecting on the unpredictability and isolation of life on tour. Before leaving the stage, he burst into the chorus of ‘Here & Now’ once again, effortlessly rallying the audience into one final singalong and leaving the room noticeably warmer than when he first walked on.
Emerging onto the indie scene just a year after The Royston Club’s debut, Overpass are clearly following in their footsteps and moving at a similarly rapid upward trajectory. Opening with recent single ‘Union Station’, it immediately became clear how much overlap there is between the two bands’ fanbases, with a huge portion of the crowd instantly jumping in to sing along. This momentum continued throughout the set, with the audience taking the lead for some choruses and singing with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for a headliner. Introducing two unreleased tracks, ‘Fall In Love’ and ‘I Will’, Overpass demonstrated how their sound continues to evolve, and proved their ability to draw in huge crowds. With their debut album ‘Elsewhere, Always’ arriving next month, they look set to push this momentum even further, with a record store tour, a packed festival season, and a UK and Europe album tour on the horizon.
When the lights dimmed, chants of “Royston, Royston” echoed around the iconic venue, fading into deafening cheers as The Royston Club walked onto stage and immediately shifting into a unified wall of voices as the opening notes of ‘Shivers’ rang out. The band’s confidence was contagious, and the floor became a sea of energy almost instantly, the crowd bouncing as pint cups flew through the air and phones were raised to capture the moment the band returned to the capital. The band, comprised of Tom Faithfull, Ben Matthias, Dave Tute and Sam Jones, carried themselves with an assured, understated confidence; after opening with “London, we are The Royston Club, and you look spectacular“, they bypassed most opportunities for crowd interaction in favour of packing as much into the set as possible and letting the music speak for itself.
The bouncing continued through the opening stretch of the set, the atmosphere so intensely energetic it felt as though the crowd risked burning themselves out before the night was over. Stepping back from the microphone for the first chorus of ‘Glued To The Bed’, Faithfull allowed the audience to carry the vocals, who rose to the occasion effortlessly and engulfed the venue in sound. The band then shifted gears for ‘A Tender Curiosity’ – with Tute and Jones temporarily leaving the stage, Faithfull and Matthias were left alone under a single spotlight, sharing one microphone as the room fell noticeably quieter around them. The stripped-back arrangement transformed the vast venue into something far more delicate, creating a sense of intimacy which is rarely achieved on stages of this size.The duo then faded into a rendition of ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by The Kinks, carrying similar feelings of warmth and understated emotion – a room which had been buzzing only minutes earlier became hushed, before thousands of voices joined together in an uplifting singalong.
Introducing unreleased track ‘Puddles’, which had only debuted live ten days earlier, it became clear just how committed the band’s fanbase has become, with a number of voices already rising to sing every word; the track felt both reflective and explosive, slowly unfolding before bursting into a soaring, emotionally driven climax. A standout moment of the set came with the surprise of ‘The Ballad Of Glen Campbell’ – only its third live performance, despite it being widely regarded by fans as one of the strongest tracks from their second album, ‘Songs For The Spine’. It was six and a half minutes of dramatic, slow-burning guitar lines and mesmerising harmonies that held the room in complete captivation from start to finish.
Returning to the stage for their encore, Faithfull told the crowd, “We’ve played a lot of venues in this city, but none as beautiful as this one, or filled with so many people”, sounding almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of support in the room. After 75 minutes of relentless energy, deafening singalongs, and moments of genuine intimacy, The Royston Club proved they are no longer just “one to watch”, but fully capable of commanding rooms at this scale with confidence and ease. Every song felt met with the kind of passion usually reserved for long-established acts, and as the final notes rang out, it became increasingly clear that they’ll be moving onto much bigger things in the not-so-distant future.
Shivers / I’m A Liar / Glued To The Bed / 30/20 / Mrs Narcissistic / Through The Cracks / A Tender Curiosity / Waterloo Sunset (cover) / Spinning / Mariana / Puddles / Blisters / Curses & Spit / The Ballad Of Glen Campbell / The Patch Where Nothing Grows / 52 / Cariad
Photo Credit: Alana Bennett
Taped Magazine 