On the morning of his biggest show to date, Gavin James tweeted a photo of himself (thankfully not a selfie!) outside the Olympia. There was his name, amongst illustrious others like Royal Blood, Laura Marling and Dolores Keane. Gavin looked a mixture of shocked, overawed and nervously excited.
However, it’s no accident that he’s come this far. The young Dubliner and his clever management team have been slowly building to this night with three years of hard graft, gigging, touring, endless promoting and various releases.
Any nerves the morning photo had suggested were banished not long after he took up position in front of the sell-out crowd. Huge swells of affection, even adoration, were directed his way from family, friends and long-time fans from every corner of the venue.
Hard work, good management and a smart strategy will only get you so far. There must be talent too. And in his sweet, soulful voice lies the secret to Gavin’s success. When the big man sings, people listen.
Alone on the vast Olympia stage with only three guitars and five towering light stands for company, he gets down to business with an opening salvo that includes ‘Nervous’, ‘Coming Home’ and ‘Remember Me’, the latter preceded by a ‘Happy 90th Birthday’ sing-along to Gavin’s uncle Paddy up in the box: there’s a real family feel to the whole night. It might be all craic and banter in between, but James is the consummate pro during songs, hitting all his notes and falsettos perfectly. His immaculate vocals are flawless throughout.
James is still finessing his songwriting chops. Beautiful as they are melodically, the likes of ‘Remember Me’ and ‘Say Hello’ are relatively slight, relying on time-honoured “woo-ooh-woah” choruses to get them over the line. Nonetheless, this gig was only ever destined to be a triumph, and James concludes proceedings with a gorgeous acoustic cover of Ray Charles’ ‘You Don’t Know Me’. It’s a suitably spine-tingling way to close a memorable performance.