Live Review: Jamie T/ 86TV's - o2 Academy, Birmingham, 11.11.22

Fresh off the back of his latest album release, Jamie T brings his “The Theory of Whatever Tour” to a sold out Birmingham o2 Academy.

The queue to get into the o2 Academy was huge upon arrival, the waiting crowd already in chorus’s of “Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, ******* T”, whilst excitedly entering the Academy.

First up was the new vehicle for the White brothers, Hugo and Felix formally of The Maccabees along with their brother Will – 86TV’s

As a massive fan of The Maccabees, I was keen to see how the band would sound, would it be like early Maccabees, or like the later material? The answer was… It isn’t a Maccabees sound, its their own sound, and it sounded great, almost haunting in parts. At current time of writing there is no music to stream yet, but keep an eye out for the band, as they’ll be releasing music soon.

Following more chanting and many beers later, Jamie T came out to the same chants from outside the venue, showing a confident swagger, Jamie know exactly how to work a crowd up, by this point beers were already flying around the crowd and into the photo pit.

Starting his set with the opening song from 2009’s album ‘Panic Prevention’ was a nice way to start showing Jamies skills and getting the front rows singing along whilst taking a beer shower. Looking at the pedal boards, and the stacks of towels I knew that beer was coming, and even found myself underneath Jamie when he launched a can over the crowd – the shot was worth it!

Following a bit of a ruckus in the crowd which caused the gig to come to a halt Jamie announced that “In every bunch of roses there’s a prick” and that he wouldn’t stop them having fun tonight. The crowd were in full agreement as the vocal Brummie crowd sung along with every song from Jamies back catalogue.

Ending the set with ‘If you got the money’ sent the crowd into a riot before Jamie thanked us and left the stage. The chanting didn’t stop, there was no way that this crowd wanted this gig to come to a close, and Jamie returned along with Hugo White from 86TV’s to play probably the best encore Ive seen in a long time.

‘Sheila’ was greeted with cheers, a mass sing along and more beer being thrown similar to when an England goal is scored at the Fan Zones. Following this up with ‘Sticks and Stones’ and ‘Zombie’ was a perfect way to end a very sweaty, packed out gig.

Jamie T has just announced a massive show in Finsbury Park for June 2023 so if you didn’t get a chance to bag a ticket on this tour, be sure to check that out!

Setlist: