Next up in the le-gig-cy series is The Lathums playing Gorilla as part of The Neighbourhood festival on the 12th October 2019.
Before the Gig:
Similar to FEVER, I came across The Lathums as a result of Blossoms. They were going to be supporting the Stockport band for the 2nd half of their 2020 tour to promote their newest album, Foolish Loving Spaces.
Curious at what to expect from them, I checked out their Spotify. They had 5 songs at the time, 4 of which coming from their recently released self titled EP.
It only took them 1 song to excite me. The Great Escape. Catchy but impressive guitar work, interesting structure and a unique sound. All mixed with beautiful and compelling lyrics. The song sounded too developed and mature for such a young band. You must check this track out if you haven’t heard it already.
I wanted to check out many bands at Neighbourhood that year. The Lathums had just become top of my list.
The Gig
I arrived at Gorilla 20 minutes before the scheduled time. The festival was done on a first come first served basis, if the venue was full, you couldn’t get in. It was obvious at this point I wasn’t the only one excited for this band. There was already a large queue.
The band seemed to have no concerns with the excited crowd with lead singer Alex Moore opening by politely asking “Is everybody alright?”. They played all 5 of their then released songs. On top of several new ones. Some of which have been released since.
The crowd were fully up for it. Jumping in the choruses, chanting the verses and constantly cheering for more. As expected The Great Escape was the crowd pleaser. Everyone singing in unison creating this brilliant communal atmosphere. The energy kept building into the ending of the song with the words “John Lennon shouldn’t have died” being screamed by seemingly every mouth in the room.
After the Gig:
If there’s been any band that have grown since I first knew of them. Its these guys. The Lathums have turned into a full on movement. The hype and support these guys have got around them is incredible. Moving from less than 20,000 monthly listeners to over 150,000 in less than a year. On top of this they now have two songs (The Great Escape and Fight On) with over 1 million streams on Spotify alone.
I was lucky enough to bump into 3 of the lads whilst in Wigan. I had gone to pick up some Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls. Living in Manchester, it’s cheaper to get a train into Wigan, than have them delivered. The trip also allowed me to get one of Wigan’s famous pies.
My friend Amber spotted them in the distance. We ended up chasing them through half of Wigan town centre until we eventually caught up with them in the Grand Arcade. They were more than happy to stop, talk a little and grab a photo with Amber and I. Drummer Ryan Durrans was not present at the time, so hopefully I can get a photo with him at a later time to complete the set.
Today The Lathums have just released their first full album, The Memories We Make. This is a full collection of both of their previous EP’s. This makes for a fantastic album with absolutely no filler. Every single song on this is worth a listen, so go check the album out if you don’t already plan to.
The Lathums are my biggest tip to go big of all the small bands I’ve seen. In March they signed a deal with Island Records, hopefully one which allows them to get all their incredible music published to the masses. I look forward to seeing them both at their rearranged Gorilla gig, as well as supporting Blossoms at the Manchester arena.
Up FÜk Latum
Adam Wynn
Admin, Owner and Music Fan
