A special night was in order after the announcement shortly before the gig that The Lathums had a second number one album with From Nothing To A Little Bit More. They would go on to play eight tracks from the new album, but more on that later. First up were The Dream Machine, a psychedelic pop/indie band from The Wirral, Liverpool. The band members are Zak McDonnell (vocals & guitar), Matt Gouldson (guitar/keyboards), Jack Inchboard (bass) and Isaac Salisbury(drums). The band have a decent back catalogue and this week released an EP ‘Lola, In The Morning’ and their first full album is due in April. The Academy was more than half full by the time they took to the stage and the band went on to play eleven songs, which is really impressive for a support band. During the set they played all their biggest songs to date including Too Stoned To Die, Jesus Babe, Children, My England, Wild One and TV Baby/Satans Child. There was even time for a cover version of The Stoogies ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’.
By 9pm the o2 was packed and everyone had taken their places for the sold out show. The hail from Wigan and are made up of Alex Moore (vocals & guitar), Scott Concepcion (guitar), Matty Murphy (bass) and Ryan Durrans (drums). The Lathums were given an extra special cheer on to the stage with the news that they had another number one album which the band appreciated very much. They then jumped straight in with recent single Say My Name, which is also on the new album, with the crowd singing back every word to them. Next up was Land And Sky, another of the news songs before they launched into a few tracks from their first number one album How Beautiful Life Can Be, which was released in 2021 and was the launchpad for their current success. The SKA inspired song ‘I See Your Ghost’ had everyone on their feet followed by the anthem ‘Fight On’, which has over 10 million streams on Spotify alone. How Beautiful Life Can Be, the title track from the first album followed on. This is a song that Brandon Flowers of The Killers came on stage to sing with The Lathums frontman Alex Moore in the summer of 2022 while on tour in Europe, a massive appreciation from a legend to an excellent singer/songwriter.
Two more songs from the latest album followed, ‘Lucky Bean’ and ‘I Know Part 1’ then The Great Escape, a song that Alex Moore wrote a few years ago about time travelling. It features the thought provoking line ‘Luft bombs fall from the sky, Can we give peace a try? Three more songs from the new album were then played: ‘Turmoil’, Rise And Fall’ and ‘Sad Face Baby’. They have been playing Sad Face Baby on their live tours for a couple of years now, but the song was only released as a single last year and also made the new album. It’s one of those songs that all the fans know off by hearts and they obliged by signing every word back to them. After a short break the band came back on stage to play two more songs. Struggle is a very personal song to Alex Moore, which focuses on how he felt as a child growing up. The night ended with the excellent Artificial Screens and we could all go home with some wonderful memories!
The Lathums Track Listing:
- Say My Name Land And Sky 3. I See Your Ghost 4. Fight On 5. How Beautiful Life Can Be 6. Lucky Bean 7. I Know Pt 1 8. The Great Escape 9. All My Life 10. Turmoil 11. The Rise And Fall 12. Sad Face Baby 13. Struggle 14. Artificial Screens.
Review by Alan Brown
