Gavin James plays his ‘favourite gig to date’ at Electric Picnic
Taking advice from Ed Sheeran, who once said “If you ignore Gavin James you’re missing out on a lot”, I made my way to Electric Picnic’s Rankin Wood Tent for the slightly earlier time of 7pm.
As I joined the back of a few hundred people, you could immediately tell who were the dedicated fans and who were just there to see what the fuss was about.
There has been so much talk surrounding the 22-year-old since his fellow ginger-haired friend Ed Sheeran announced he would support him at one of his Croke Park shows, but if you’re a regular around the Dublin’s college circuit, you might remember him from his famous three hour marathon gigs as an up and coming artist.
My personal knowledge of the Dublin singer-songwriter heading to the gig was very little, so I was excited to see what he had in store.
Before I knew it the tent was full to the brim with fans, most of them in their mid 20s.
One of his first songs of the set was Coming Home, a song I was familiar with.
Although before he introduced the song, he announced: “This song is better played on the piano, but I can’t play the piano”.
On the way to @epfestival ! Could barely fit all the gear on the bus !! I'll be on the rankings wood stage at 6:15 x pic.twitter.com/JLUtf4y5R3
— Gavin James (@gavinjames) September 6, 2015
And even though he was only on stage for a few minutes, you could not but notice his outstanding vocal range.
“Any gingers in the house?” he asked before launching into a new song ‘Bitter Pill’.
His voice, tone and overall sound was everything I needed for a Sunday.
Just Gavin and his guitar, the perfect intimate gig recipe.
Then, the gig took a turn that I wasn’t expecting at all.
A mashup of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billy Jean’ and The Weekend’s ‘I Can’t Feel My Face’, followed by his impression of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Wonderful world’.
.@gavinjames #EP2015 pic.twitter.com/iEg0NdCkTq
— Anna O'Donoghue 🌻 (@AnnaVDesigns) September 6, 2015
I strangely loved it, he successfully continued to bring this feeling of ease into each note, even with the dodgy mouth trumpeting.
.@gavinjames #EP2015 'What a wonderful world' pic.twitter.com/S2u3mO0KQK
— Anna O'Donoghue 🌻 (@AnnaVDesigns) September 6, 2015
This received a rapture of an applause from the crowd, an applause which actually left James looking genuinely shocked.
All the love for @gavinjames @EPfestival #EP2015 pic.twitter.com/rt7v03J1X9
— Anna O'Donoghue 🌻 (@AnnaVDesigns) September 6, 2015
“This is crazy,” he repeated over and over again.
“I can’t thank you enough, I played this festival a few years ago and there was less than half the number of you here.
“This is crazy”.
‘Book of Love’ and ‘Two Hearts’ were his next big numbers followed by his number one hit ‘For You’ - and the crowd didn’t miss a word.
.@gavinjames 'For You' #EP2015 pic.twitter.com/xmJVILeNGI
— Anna O'Donoghue 🌻 (@AnnaVDesigns) September 6, 2015
“This is my favourite gig I’ve ever done - EVER,” he admitted, which led them to reciprocating the love and begging for an encore.
Of course the now emotional Gavin jumped back on stage for a final tune, but this time he brought along his “buddy Craig”.
The duo both strummed along and sang harmonies to Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark.
.@gavinjames & his buddy Craig #EP2015 pic.twitter.com/zmGIJ2x29O
— Anna O'Donoghue 🌻 (@AnnaVDesigns) September 6, 2015
In a nutshell, Gavin James is all you need for the perfect Sunday session.
