I don’t even know where to start when I talk about this, but James Bay is one of my favourite artists. I can’t believe this was just my third time seeing him live, but I already lost track of how many times he was my top artist on Spotify Wrapped. Obviously, I was super excited to see this show, so excited that I even made sure I arrive there early to be certain I get a good spot, not too close to the stage, where everybody gets elbowed, but not at the back of the crowd, behind the sound engineer either. As the time to go on stage came closer and closer for James and his band, my excitement, and everybody else’s around me, grew and grew. The last time I saw him, his previous album, Electric Light, had just been released. Now I was eager to hear some of his new tracks, from his latest release, Leap.

The concert started with a set of classics from the older albums, just to continue with some unreleased songs: Goodbye Never Felt so Bad and All My Broken Pieces. It is useless to say that we were mind-blown. The first song is a bit more up-tempo and very catchy, with James’ voice carrying us across the chorus, while the second one is a ballad written and performed in his specific style. And then we went back to older songs again, but not before the audience asked for The Best, by Tina Turner, and James humoured us by playing its chorus and rattled on his guitar a bit, in honour of the recently passed away music legend.

There is really a lot of emotion and professionalism in his performance. And he surrounded himself by a bunch of talented musicians that make the gigs complete. It is a pleasure to hear him live, his music is slightly less popish as on the recordings, and a bit more rock’n’roll, with a lot of improvisations and guitar solos that shows us that James is more than a good singer, but a talented guitar player and a showman, making him a complete artist.

More than halfway into the gig, I finally got to hear a new song, from his latest released album: One Life. And that was the only track he played from it. And this is the only downside of the concert. I would have really liked to hear more songs from Leap. Fade Out came right after and I liked it so much: a toned down, soul-style pop track, smooth voice, funky rhythm, good for dancing to, just enough to calm us down before the main part of the show ended with more up-tempo tracks.

The encore was made up of two songs: Scars, and the unmistakeable Hold Back The River. Though the best received song was, as always, Let It Go, this last song triggered a fervent reaction in all of us. Was it because of the song or was it because we knew it was the last one? No idea! The most important thing is that it struck a chord and it made for a fitting closure of an amazing live gig. 17 songs went by so fast!

It was incredible to see James Bay in Berns. The location itself is beautiful, in the heart of Stockholm. It was nice to be surrounded by people who showed the same passion for the music that was played, seeing how we all sing along. I somehow felt that, compared to other shows where people may attend out of curiosity, we were all fans there. The type of feeling that I previously saw in Marillion gigs. I left the location of the concert with a smile on my face and a deep feeling of contentment that I got to see one of my favourite musicians again.