The Lathums: Greater Manchester band bring their best to Birmingham leg of UK tour

The Lathums’ 2023 UK tour is in full swing in support of their new album and on St Patrick’s Day they stopped off in Birmingham - I went along to check them out
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Fresh from the release of their second studio album ‘From Nothing To A Little Bit More’ The Lathums brought their UK tour to Birmingham. The intimate setting of the O2 Institute was a fine venue for this hearty indie band for whom the only way seems to be up.

After a walk through the city and into Digbeth through the crowds of people out to enjoy St Patrick’s Day, I made my way into the Institute and up the stairs to the main stage of the venue. The band from Wigan kicked off the night with ‘Say My Name’ which was swiftly followed by ‘Land and Sky’ and the ever peppy track ‘I See Your Ghost’.

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Between the intervals of each song, the adoring Birmingham crowd reminded the band of last week’s successful conquering of the UK album charts. Chants of ‘UK’s number one’ filled the air, to which frontman Alex Moore had no complaints.

One of their most anticipated live tracks for me, due to its generally happy and refreshing sound, is ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’. The title track of their debut album, it has become a song synonymous with the band’s overall upbeat and feel good vibes.

Another song which fits firmly into this category is ‘The Great Escape’ which was also given a run out in Birmingham. A song which puts itself in the shop window as a crowd sing along classic, the hundreds packed into the O2 Institute duly obliged with the chorus.

By this point the night was in full swing. A scan of the crowd revealed reminders of what day it was- with several fans sporting huge Guinness top hats. I dare to say some of them may have ended up away from their owners over the course of the gig.

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The Lathums performing ‘Rise and Fall’ signalled a slowing down in proceedings. The track is one of the many pillars of the new album which got it to the number one spot- it’s easy to see how they reached the heights of the charts.

A final taste before the band disappeared off stage and behind a wall of cloud was ‘Sad Face Baby’ which has an intro which seems fitting for a song set to almost wrap up a setlist. The lights went off, the band vanished, and a crowd waited expectantly- using the opportunity to sing once again about The Lathum’s UK number one success.

The Lathums took to the stage at Birmingham’s O2 Institute on St Patrick’s Day (Photo: Patrick Hollis) The Lathums took to the stage at Birmingham’s O2 Institute on St Patrick’s Day (Photo: Patrick Hollis)
The Lathums took to the stage at Birmingham’s O2 Institute on St Patrick’s Day (Photo: Patrick Hollis)

The encore consisted of ‘Struggle’ and ‘Facets’ before being rounded off by ‘Artificial Screens’- a song which gives full licence to artistry from all facets (see what I did there?) of the band.

The crowd spilled back out onto the streets of Birmingham ready to either head home or hit up one of the many bars around Digbeth. They left in the knowledge of knowing they’d just watched a band that continues to flex its muscles as an up and coming indie band to keep an eye out for.