I’m from Coventry – back home, we all know about JAY1. He’s a pretty big deal, seeing as we haven’t had any recognisable music talent since 2 Tone legends The Special’s in the 70’s. Even though he moved to Coventry from London in 2016, he’s taken the city as his own, and it’s generated a hugely committed fanbase. I wasn’t one of the fans that turned up to see Jay1 at Coventry’s Godiva Festival this year, but thousands of others did, and the sheer amount of people caused his set to be axed over safety concerns after people charged the stage where he was performing. So yeah, he’s a pretty big deal back home, and I wanted to see if his fans were as passionate outside of his home city (spoiler: they were.)

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But Jay1’s show at the O2 Institute … can’t be accurately captured without talking about the crowd

When you review an artist’s live performance, the audience is not something you tend to focus on. But Jay1’s show at the O2 Institute on Thursday, 26th September, can’t be accurately captured without talking about the crowd. First things first, the crowd was very young. A young crowd means a very particular atmosphere, and you’ll either walk away describing it as rowdy or passionate, depending on how well you cope with a room full of energised teenagers. They mosh at any chance they get, and their enthusiasm is infectious – it comes in handy at the beginning of the show when all we are entertained by is songs being played from the front speakers for a too-long time, and they help to keep everyone buoyant.

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It felt a bit unprofessional considering the crowd was getting fidgety, but maybe that’s how you build tension nowadays

The support acts, Romzy (a London South East College student who has been on a steady ascension) and DJ Blacka interacted so well with the crowd. Romzy in particular brought the stage to life as he jumped about, yelling for the tracks to be rewound to get the crowd hyped, and dashed his water bottle over everyone. But no matter how engaging the support acts were, they couldn’t keep the crowd satiated for long, and soon demanding chants of ‘JAY1!’ started. I will admit, it seemed like it took forever for him to appear, and there were a lot of long pauses in between acts. At one point my friend checked JAY1’s Instagram to see if there was any news, and he’s on Instagram Live in the backroom, sitting on a leather sofa and joking about with his entourage. It felt a bit unprofessional considering the crowd was getting fidgety, but maybe that’s how you build tension nowadays.

When JAY1 finally strode out into the spotlights, he commanded the stage. The crowd hung on to his every word (or lyric, rather.) It’s crazy how despite his One Wave EP being released only in July, everyone knew it off by heart.

His lyrics aren’t mind-blowing; the standard girls, drinking, and partying that dominates most music. But it is JAY1’s delivery that made him shine; his voice is deep, clear and forceful. It adds an edge to lyrics that might not hit as hard otherwise, his methodical flow never missing a beat. The highlights of his performance were definitely the crowd-pleasers, the favourites. ‘Becky’ and ‘Your Mrs’ (the track that arguably kick-started his career) were especially great, and JAY1 visibly reveled in the enthusiasm of his audience.

It wasn’t a ground-breaking performance, but it was good entertainment, and as well as his confidence, I think one of the reasons JAY1 will continue to grow is his insanely committed fan base.