Tom A Smith called in at Manchester's Night And Day Cafe on Wednesday night for the first of two shows on a short tour with Southampton's The Manatees promoted by The Rock Revival. Over the course of fourteen songs he got the audience singing along to every word of old favourites whilst revealing new music from one of the country's most prolific young songwriters expanding his musical palette still further.
The evening's opened by The Manatees, an assured five-piece from Southampton who get a warm and positive response from a growing Manchester crowd who move forwards as their set progresses. They've got a solid set of songs behind them - the likes of The Sound, Innocence Of Youth, Headspace and standout track Buttercup are strong indie tracks that have the band's personalities written into them so they avoid sounding like an identikit band. Front man Jay has an aura about him that makes you want to listen to what he's singing about. It's a shame Issy's keyboards aren't higher in the mix as they add even more depth to the songs when they can be heard, but it's a minor quibble as The Manatees leave a good impression behind them ahead of their ambitious headline show in the Pink Room at Yes, a room around the same size as this one, in October.
It feels like Tom A Smith has been on the scene a lifetime even though he's still a young man. Of course he's a million miles away from the pre-teen who'd made his first mark doing homemade covers on the internet. His new material - of which he previews three brand new songs tonight - show his songwriting progressing further from the singalong teen anthems like Weirdo, Fake It, Little Bits and Toronto that are sung along every word by an audience that varies in age from teenagers to fifty and sixty-something. Such is the broad spectrum of appeal that Tom has shows that his affable immediately likeable personality and the hard work he and his band have put in slogging the circuit over the past couple of years has turned into a fanbase that's growing with each tour and is ready for a big break that will catapult him into much bigger rooms.
Accompanied by Dylan on guitar and keys, Frazer on drums and Katie on bass, Tom has a very strong connection with his band and they play their part in making these songs connect both aurally and visually rather than just being the backing band to a singer who's front and centre. They're super tight and give the songs an edge that drives home the connection Tom's lyrics create. Songs about fitting in, not fitting in, the issues life throws at you at every age, resonate and as the set concludes with Good Enough and an unlisted encore of Weirdo, every single person in the room is singing them back to Tom who stands soaking it in and encouraging more. It wouldn't be too much of a projection to imagine thousands doing this rather than the hundred and fifty or so in the Night And Day.
The new songs are where the challenge comes in. Tom's songwriting has come on leaps and bounds in the past year, he references having spent the relatively quiet gigging schedule of the past few months as having been an opportunity to write a lot of new material and he provides some pretty impressive examples of it tonight. The "Mackem punk" of Fashion, the prog-influenced Golden Gates and the bold All Is Fair And Love And War (which Tom tells us is political) demonstrate his increasing potency as a songwriter and the widening breadth of styles that he's incorporating into his work. That could work against him in an industry that's obsessed with labels and putting people in boxes, but to those who love music for music's sake, it's a sign that he's blossoming into an artist that has something to impart and isn't afraid to say it.
An hour and ten minutes after coming onto stage with little fanfare, the four of them depart with the roaring approval of the Manchester crowd ringing in their ears after they refuse to leave without an encore. Tom A Smith feels and sounds ready for the next step up.
Tom A Smith's website can be found here and he is on Facebook and Twitter.
They both play London Sebright Arms tonight (March 20th)
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