It’s been a triumphant year for The Royston Club, with the release of their critically acclaimed album “Songs From The Spine”, big festival moments including Reading, Leeds and TRNSMT, and seeing their entire UK autumn headline tour sell-out in advance. They also share a perfect complement to the album, with the new “Live From Coastal” EP.
The EP was recorded late last year at Coastal Sound Studios in Liverpool. It features new stripped-back versions of the lead single ‘”The Patch Where Nothing Grows” and the emotionally-charged “Curses & Spit”.
It is completed by two intriguing covers: “Wichita Lineman”, a natural choice to follow the original album’s closing track “The Ballad of Glen Campbell”, and putting their own spin on beabadoobee’s “Glue Song”, which resulted in numerous fans requesting an official release after the video was released last year.
Their first plans for 2026 have just been confirmed with the news that they will perform as guests to Two Door Cinema Club at London’s Crystal Palace Park on a bill that also features The Vaccines and James Marriott. But back to this sold out headline tour’s first night. Ray Loudon says:
I have seen this band at least six times across a few years; from small venues with few bodies in to tonight’s rammed 600 capacity Concorde 2 in Brighton, the first night of their biggest headline tour yet, and have witnessed how they have grown in confidence, in skills and in the quality of their songs. And of course, in the size of the venue and the number of fans they pull in.
They have always turned up to really ‘ave it and left it all on stage whether there is 6 or 600 in. But tonight was on a different level and as this 15-song set beds in and as these shows clock up the mileage, methinks they will only get better. Incendiary sums up their performance by the seaside tonight. or as the trendy kids say: lit!
The sea air outside Concorde 2 was brisk, but inside, Brighton’s favourite seafront venue things warned up nicely early on and there was a real electric buzz in the air; an excitement and anticipation by the fans, some of whom had travelled from far and wide for this gig.
The Royston Club’s entire “Songs for the Spine” UK has sold out fast, the sign of a band fully stepping into their prime and marking a decisive moment in the Welsh indie band’s upward trajectory.
The Wrexham four-piece delivered a set that proved why they’re one of the most exciting indie bands breaking through right now, balancing emotional precision with the kind of energy that transforms a live show into a shared experience.
Their 2023 debut album, “Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars” [which peaked at # 16 on the UK Official album chart], established their melodic guitar-driven sound as heirs to a lineage of melodic British indie; part jangling guitars, part restless heart. Their sophomore long player, “Songs for the Spine” pushes their sound further and the song writing is more refined and has depth. These songs played live land hard.
The Royston Club didn’t just turn up in Brighton, the bloody they owned it. Frontman Tom Faithfull on lead vocals and guitar was in fine form, ably supported by Ben Matthias on lead guitar, Dave Tute on bass and Sam Jones behind the drums kit. The lads first came together in 2019, their name plucked from a Wrexham club.
Tom, Ben and Dave Tute are old school friends who formed the band with the addition of drummer Sam Jones. Early rambunctious shows within Wrexham and the surrounding area established a devoted local following, and their initial self-released demos and singles soon started taking their local following into an international fanbase. That interest was heightened with an array of festivals, support shows (including Blossoms, Jamie Webster and The Academic) and headline tours which became bigger with every run.
After signing to Run On Records (home to The Coral, and an imprint of Modern Sky), The Royston Club soon achieved their first chart moment when “Coasting” (backed with fan favourite “Mrs Narcissistic”) reached the Top 10 on the Official Vinyl Singles Chart. From there, they continued upwards, leading to the success of “Shaking Hips And Crashing Cars” in 2023.
The band headlined the biggest show ever held in their hometown of Wrexham, selling out the Wrexham FC football stadium, winning the admiration in the shape of movie star and the club’s co-owner Ryan Reynolds.
Young whippersnapper kings of the sharp hook, crafting songs with raw honesty and a real knack for writing songs that feel like they’ve always belonged to us, the fans. Almost every word of almost every song of this set was sung back to the band loudly, probably rattling windows as far as Hove and Roedean.
They opened with “The Patch Where Nothing Grows”, which was the first new music since their debut album came out, and main songwriter Ben Matthias says, “This song is meant, at its core, as a cry to the person I was falling in love with at the time. It’s about that point in love when you want to spend every minute of your days and nights with that person, but ultimately can’t be sure where the relationship is going.
“I try to come to terms with that in the chorus, admitting ‘I’ll fall gently in this grove, in the patch where nothing grows’ if the love isn’t ‘necessary’. It’s an honest account of my viewpoint at the time and hopefully one many can relate to.”
Tonight in Brighton, and from the first chorus of “The Patch Where Nothing Grows”, the crowd made it clear: this wasn’t just a gig, it was a takeover. This is the moment every indie band chases: when your songs stop being yours and become everyone else’s.
This was a band not hiding behind spectacle or posturing. Instead, what followed was a performance rooted in craft, connection, and that elusive live electricity you can’t quite manufacture. You can only earn it.
From the early tension of “Glued To The Bed” to the pulse of “30/20”, The Royston Club sounded road-worn in the best way: tight without being rigid, emotive without leaning into cliché. “Mrs Narcissistic” bristled with sardonic edge, while “Through The Cracks” gave the night one of its first moments of hush; a collective breath drawn and held.
Halfway through the set, the band offered something new: “Crowbar”, a track receiving its live debut. A bruised, slow-burn anthem that felt like a late-night walk home through streets you used to know. A fabulous track.
Setlist
The Patch Where Nothing Grows
Glued To The Bed
Blisters
30/20
Mrs Narcissistic
Through The Cracks
A Tender Curiosity
Spinning
Shivers
Crowbar
(Live debut)
Curses & Spit
52
Mariana
I’m A Liar
Cariad
Vocally, Tom walked the line between rawness and restraint with real grace. He doesn’t overplay emotion; he channels it, often letting silence or tension do the heavy-lifting.
The final third of the night leaned into the band’s more urgent palette: “Curses & Spit” and “52” both landed like punches, while “Mariana” shimmered with cinematic melancholy.
But it was closer “Cariad”, the current single, which sealed the emotional through-line of the evening. Delivered with a rawness that felt both intimate and expansive.
The Royston Club have levelled up. Their live show is tighter, their sound bigger, and their audience louder than ever. “Songs For The Spine” already feels like the record that will define this chapter of their career. Gigs like this one prove they’re ready for much bigger stages.
The Royston Club. A band learning to trust their songs, and an audience willing to follow wherever they go. Delivering new material in full force, while honouring the emotional core that won them fans in the first place.
They trade in connection, not performance for its own sake. The Royston Club aren’t coming up anymore, they are well and truly here.
- Support tonight by Lick the Toad and FEET.
Photos by Manja Williams
Words by Ray Loudon [additional input by Manja Williams]
