There’s no doubt the setting is stunning – the open-air courtyard of Somerset House bathed in an ambient purple light on a cool summer’s evening – but with much of the audience dressed more like they’re attending a cocktail party than a music event, and several groups of people sitting on the floor surrounded by the picnics they’ve brought with them, James Bay’s Summer Series set is fundamentally a nice, sensible event from the start.
The Hertfordshire singer-songwriter’s twangy pop-rock--country hybrid sounds somewhat like the kind of thing mums might do the hoovering to, or the kind of thing to make teenage girls fall head over heels in love-song lust. And Bay’s repertoire has plenty of the latter. In the audience, couples sway affectionately from side to side to his sweet, poppy guitar ballads throughout.
But aside from that, the audience seem slightly uninterested in the music until mid-set, when single ‘Let It Go’ finally rouses some sort of sing-along. “It took me two years to write this”, Bay says more than once of ‘Scars’, but at least when he plays it, maybe half the crowd sing along.
But it’s not all bad. The slightly cheesy yet undeniably catchy ‘Best Fake Smile’ goes down well and a cover of Alicia Key’s ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ surprisingly works well, not to mention his Top-5 single ‘Hold Back the River’. Although it seems to be the only song some audience members know, they know it well, filling the courtyard with a singalong chorus.
Dressed in his trademark skinny jeans and black trilby hat, Bay is genuine and polite and no doubt believes in the music he’s creating. But in many ways, he gives little more than any of the other Nice Young Men of Pop to rule the charts this decade. With his album debuting at No.1, he’ll be wildly successful for a while – the show sold out, after all – but the market for Ed Sheerans, Tom Odells and indeed, James Bays, is already at saturation point.
Bay’s got the style, but needs to add substance to his performances and songwriting to avoid becoming yet another Nice Guy Singer-Songwriter from here on out.
