LIVE REVIEW: The Royston Club, FEET, Arkayla, Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, 25/10/2025
A few miles from The Barras, up to the north of Glasgow there is a notorious housing scheme named Royston, a friend assumed that The Royston Club were from there, he seemed disappointed when we told him that they were actually from Wales, Wrexham to be more precise and are named after a local club near where they grew up. We have been looking forward to this sold-out show for weeks where we will get to hear the majority of the recent album release Songs For The Spine.
The timing upon entry couldn’t have been more perfect as Manchester band Arkayla were just about to take to the stage, we had seen them play a half-set around the corner in The Winged Ox only a couple of weeks earlier as part of the Tenement Trail but sadly they had to cut the set short due to someone being taken ill. Tonight we get an eight-track set filled with some memorable indie rock and a good few had made the journey up from Manchester singing along to every song. The singer Cal Blakebrough is outstanding throughout the set and gets the large crowd onside early with Falling Down, Doctor and Waste Of Time were the standouts from the half-hour set. Arkayla have been added to our ‘must see again’ list. 8/10
FEET were a brand new band for us to check out before the show, hailing from Coventry – the home of Ska music – we can definitely hear that influence on their music, led by the charismatic figure of George Haverson on vocals he guides the band through a nine-track set that cover all the bases including alternative rock and punk. Releasing album two Make It Up in June 2024 we would get to hear a couple from that release – Why Would I Lie? and Greasy Boy being the songs – mixed with some new tracks. Haverson is almost in the crowd at times helping to generate the required atmosphere amongst the crowd for the main headliner. FEET have toured with some established bands such as The Libertines and Inhaler in the past helping to give them a lift up, from what we hear tonight they will only get bigger. 7/10
There is now a real buzz about the old ballroom on this Saturday night as we await Wrexham’s finest taking to the stage, the stage backdrop has an image of the Songs For The Spine album cover from which we will get to hear an impressive nine tracks tonight. While waiting we tried to work out how many times we had seen The Royston Club live, this was definitely the fourth time in 2025 after Sound City, TRNSMT and Kendal Calling, these thoughts were soon put on the back burner as Tom Faithfull (vocals & guitar), Ben Matthias (guitar), Dave Tute (bass) and Sam Jones (drums) took to the stage with a warm Glasgow welcome in the packed ballroom. There is definitely something about this venue that is magical, we have said this time and again. Whether it is the spring loaded floor that will be tested to the limit tonight or the history of the old ballroom where couples used to dance the night away many decades ago.
The Patch Where Nothing Grows and Glued To The Bed are taken from the latest album and get the venue bouncing straight away, this is just the start to the show everyone was looking for. This is quickly followed by Blisters from the Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars album as chants of “Royston, Royston, Royston” reverberate around the room adding to the already electric atmosphere as does 30/20 but it is the band’s biggest track to date Mrs Narcissistic that get the spring loaded floor tested and prompts a mass singalong moment that seems to involve every single person in the ballroom. A Tender Curiosity is played acoustically by Tom and Ben as the crowd falls silent for the first time tonight and allows both these fine musicians to showcase their talents. Before the excellent Spinning the crowd are chanting once more “Here we, here we, here we fucking go” seems to be the Glasgow anthem at gigs these days while Shivers did just that, sending a shiver down the spine for what must have been one of the best tracks on the fifteen-track set. At this point we notice that guitarist Ben has a ‘fuck art lets dance’ t-shirt on tonight, that takes us way back to the early 1980s when Madness were in their prime.
It really is anthem after anthem now as Curses & Spit, 52 and Mariana keep the energy levels high among the crowd with vocalist Tom asking the crowd to squeeze out any last energy by commenting “let’s go it’s a Saturday night in Glasgow”. It is the last song of the set Cariad that steals the show for us though and sends everyone home happy, this band are so deserving of the big fanbase that has turned out tonight for a couple of hours of music bliss. The biggest takeaway from The Royston Club show was the crowd reaction to each and every song and the new ones from Songs For The Spine were some of the best of the set tonight, frontman Tom Faithfull was excellent throughout and has the energy of three people at times. 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
