After his Glasgow show quickly sold out, James Bay added a second Scotland date to his Up All Night tour.
The evening began with the sultry tones of Leiff Vollebekk, Canadian singer-songwriter and opening act for James Bay on this tour. A one-man act infusing Bon Iver, Leonard Cohen, and a touch of Jeff Buckley, the mellow sounds filled the air as the audience slowly packed out the room.
The anticipation was high as fans belted out the chorus of Bay’s hit ‘Hold Back The River’, and the lights went down and silence filled the room. Bay came out swinging with his recent hit ‘Up All Night’, the studio version featuring the likes of Noah Kahan and The Lumineers, and as if a statement of intent, this opening set the tone for the ‘bayhem’ to come.
He moved on to 2022’s ‘Give Me A Reason’, before getting the crowd in the palm of his hand with the ‘Chaos And The Calm’ hit ‘If You Ever Want To Be In Love’.
“I just have to say, we played Glasgow on a Saturday and it was great, but Edinburgh on a Sunday is unbelievable. Might as well be New York on a Friday,” Bay told the crowd.
By this point, chants of “No Scotland No Party” started to erupt from the crowd in-between songs, much to Bay’s delight. Playing an instrumental version of The White Stripes’ hit ‘Seven Nation Army’, the crowd played ball and added the ‘No Scotland No Party’ chant in perfect time.
Mixing the old with the new, Bay showcased the song ‘Sunshine In The Room’ from the new album ‘Changes All The Time’, which was warmly received by everyone in the room. A huge roar went up us he transitioned from ‘Us’ to the 2015 hit ‘Let It Go’, with Bay exclaiming “It’s not no Scotland no party, it’s No Edinburgh No Party”.
An unexpected highlight in what could have been a lull in the show was a quiet moment where Bay seemingly sought to do a cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’, but beautifully transitioned it into his song ‘Scars’, with Bay performing an emotionally charged solo in a song which otherwise doesn’t have one.
Without a second’s hesitation, Bay then sought to bring three of his songs together in a mashup of ‘Peer Pressure’, ‘Craving’, and ‘Pink Lemonade’, with the energetic performance keeping the crowd in the Corn Exchange constantly moving and guessing at what would come next.
Bay closed off the main set with ‘Chaos And The Calm’ song ‘Best Fake Smile’, but very much deviating from the album version with improvised solos and audience participation sections, leaving the crowd begging for more as he left the stage for what would surely be an encore to remember.
Return to the stage alone and with an acoustic guitar, Bay played the ace in his sleeve and said: “I prefer it when you guys sing, and I think you’ll sing along to this one”. Deviating completely from the tour setlist, he burst into an acoustic cover of Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, and the crowd erupted from the first chord, with Bay allowing them to carry the weight of the singing for the majority of the song.
Clearly tired but smiling from ear to ear, Bay knew to go out on top, and so ended with his breakout 2015 hit ‘Hold Back The River’, leaving the crowd in the 02 singing and bouncing, and chanting for more as he left the stage for the final time.
- Bear’s Den / Brodie Barclay - 11 March 2025
- James Bay / Leiff Vollebekk - 4 February 2025