LIVE REVIEW: James Marriott, Esme Emerson, O2 Institute Birmingham, 11/11/2025
Photo Credit: Jack Delve (18th November – O2 Academy Bournemouth)
It’s all coming up James Marriott at the minute – a UK No.1 Album with Don’t Tell the Dog, a largely sold out tour packed with venue upgrades, and his biggest headline crowd ever at his 02 Academy Birmingham gig. Bring the Noise was there to find out why there’s so much hype from this online creator-turned-musician.
There’s a certain stigma that comes with being an internet personality that becomes a musician. They already have an audience of cult followers to sell out their shows, but ultimately those fans are into them because of who they are and not because of the music they produce. If the talent doesn’t quite match the hype, it’s easy for the music to get discarded as just another passion project turned business venture to capitalize on pre-existing support. Fortunately for James Marriott, something is going right here.
The night started with white flashing lights and building momentum from the LCD Soundsystem inspired opening of Ventriloquist – a repetitive monotone staccato loop reminiscent of All My Friends. The clear parallels offered a bit of a statement of intent – Marriott wants that same grandiosity, theatre and ultimately art as one of his favourite bands in the whole world. That theatre was clear from the offset, as Marriott let loose striking poses underneath the striking spotlights.
Moving then into Something’s Wrong, an irresistibly funky number characterised by its driving bassline and some groovy rhythm guitar. Groups of friends were screaming the words back into each other’s faces, dancing along fuelled by pure excitement. James looked to be having the time of his life on stage, with an incredible confidence commanding the room, especially for someone that’s skyrocketed to venues of this size comparatively quickly as a result of his digital clout.
The set list for the night bounced between emotional indie-pop and accessible, bouncy pop-rock. It’s easy to dip your toes into wherever you sit on the musical spectrum. While Marriott isn’t breaking the mould with his song-writing, he also avoids being bland – there are some really memorable hooks, dynamic narratives and emotional vignettes in there to be enjoyed. From a technical perspective, his vocal skills have come a long way since the Slow Down days. Marriott seems hungry to develop his music and challenge himself creatively, which has ultimately culminated into a really solid effort with Don’t Tell The Dog, an album which hit No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart upon its release.
His visit to 02 Academy Birmingham brought in his biggest ever crowd at a headline show yet – the room was absolutely packed with fans who offered their full attention throughout, squealing along and playfully heckling Marriott during any and all pauses in proceedings. There were chants of “Good Bin, Bad Bin” (a call back to a popular YouTube series he creates with his friend WillNE), massive Elmo hats, grape costumes and unflattering images of Marriott on T-shirts held up for all to see. In many ways, it’s great to see that the wholesome fangirl energy of the early 2010s that was alive and well in the heyday of Dan and Phil is still very much alive. In fact, there was a fun little call back to the godfathers of UK YouTube, when It’s Only Love was dedicated to Dan specifically but not Phil, because Dan had followed him on X the night before while Phil had not. Sometimes, gigs like this can feel quite insular if you’re not completely across all of the inside jokes and all of the lore of the artist you’re going to see, but these fun little interludes were short and sweet enough to balance the excitement of the superfan and the risk of isolating the casual fan. Marriott navigated this difficulty really well.
One of the big moments during the evening was during an unreleased track – California Rain. Despite not being out on streaming services, most of the room could still recite every word due to the power of TikTok, which in itself was quite sweet. During this track, a sea of phone torches rose above the crowd, covered with red and blue tissue paper as part of a Birmingham fan project. A plastic wallet had been filtering around the room encouraging fans to join in when the song began, and fans responded with full force. Naturally, Marriott was emotional at the sight of this, on top of an already emotional song about the anxieties of being away from home and being in a transitional state whilst touring. This made for a really beautiful moment, and clear effort by fans to make James feel at home even while away.
Despite a joking reluctance to form a mosh pit from some members of the crowd (which honestly is understandable, as 02 Academy Birmingham is a particularly hot and sweaty venue no matter who it is you’re going to see), there was some pit action for Sleeping on Trains and the night’s closer, Grapes. While Marriott’s vocals throughout were really impressive, the proof was firmly there during the crescendo of this song, where he belted out to the crowd’s rapturous applause.
Despite what the lyrics of California Rain would suggest, James Marriott actually is cut out for the big time if he remains on the trajectory of Don’t Tell the Dog. 7/10
Written By: Izzy Morris
