James Bay, Shakespeare’s Globe, review: songs of heartbreak in an evening of togetherness
The folksy plucking of a guitar accompanied a beautiful panning shot of the London skyline before swinging down to reveal James Bay standing on the balcony of Shakespeare’s Globe. Moments before he launched into the pained heartbreak of his 2015 song Scars, the camera switched and we saw the whites of his eyes as he steadied himself for his first proper gig in more than a year. Intimate but with a cinematic flourish, this (the start of a global live-stream in three acts) was the perfect introduction to an artist who has always had an element of both.
Now 30, the Hertfordshire-born singer-songwriter was discovered in 2013 when a fan uploaded to YouTube a video of him performing at an open mic night. Just two years later, he picked up the Critics Choice statue at 2015’s Brit Awards. (Other recipients include Adele, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith.)
Bay’s fiery yet tender debut album The Chaos & The Calm saw him write the soundtracks for potential John Lewis adverts, connecting with an audience of hopeful romantics with lines about his fragile, heavy heart. Electric Light (2018) ditched the acoustic guitar (and his trademark hat) for something more unruly but just as in love with love.
Bay has always valued the power of live music, and is as comfortable sharing stadiums with Ed Sheeran and the Rolling Stones as he is returning to the small venues where he found his feet. His ease with a crowd of any sizes perhaps explains why he was so unfazed about playing to an empty theatre on Wednesday night.
Bay soon left the balcony, made his way down to the stage and let out an excited laugh before diving into the warmth of last year’s single Peer Pressure. Backed by a five-piece band, he twisted his new release Chew on my Heart into a foot-stomping anthem of longing, while his breakthrough single Let It Go also swelled with the full band behind it.
Wednesday evening’s weather at the Globe was more Winter’s Tale than Midsummer Night’s Live-stream, but that didn’t matter, From the solemn backstage performance of Break My Heart Right to the impressive venue-wide light show that gave the whole show a real sense of drama, he used the deserted theatre to his advantage.
The evening was about raising funds for both Shakespeare’s Globe and Crew Nation, a global relief fund for live music workers. However, beyond the on-screen presence of a “donate” button, it wasn’t mentioned during the gig.
Sure, there were moments when the real world crept in. Us, a moody anthem of togetherness, saw Bay promise that “even in the dark, we’ll find our way out”; in a stripped-back rendition of Bowie’s Life on Mars, the line “Rule Britannia is out of bounds” was still relevant, nearly 50 years on.
But, while Bay’s songs generally lack edge, they offer a sense of familiarity and togetherness that has been in short supply recently. And, apart from a few quips about how odd the whole situation is, he served up an evening of sorely needed escapism from the compound misery that is 2020.
