James Bay at Wembley & A Brilliant Start to Bon Jovi
Before Bon Jovi took over Wembley Stadium, James Bay had the fairly small task of warming up tens of thousands of people inside one of the biggest music venues in the country.
No pressure then.
James was the official support across all three of Bon Jovi’s Wembley dates on the Forever Tour. On Sunday evening he was due on stage at 6pm, slightly earlier time due to the curfew for live music on a Sunday.
It was a warm evening in London and Wembley was already filling quickly when James appeared. What followed was around 50 minutes of exactly what you want from a support act. Familiar songs, a strong live sound and enough presence to make a huge stadium feel surprisingly intimate.
His set opened with “Up All Night” before moving into a medley of “Peer Pressure”, “Craving” and “Pink Lemonade”. He then worked through “If You Ever Want to Be in Love”, “Us”, “Let It Go”, “You and Me Time” and “Wanderlust”, finishing with two of the songs that really got Wembley singing, “Best Fake Smile” and, of course, “Hold Back the River”.
“Let It Go” was one of those moments where you could hear just how many James Bay fans were already inside the stadium. There is something quite impressive about hearing a song normally associated with a much more intimate singer and songwriter setting suddenly being carried around Wembley by thousands of voices.
What stood out for me just as much as the music, though, was how James dealt with a few medical emergencies in the crowd.
On more than one occasion attention was needed within the audience. James noticed what was happening and stopped immediately. There was no attempt to push through the song or ignore it. He simply gave the medics and stadium team the space and time they needed to deal with the situation before continuing.
With such a large crowd packed into Wembley on a warm evening, it was a good reminder that the music can wait. Credit to James for recognising it so quickly and making sure the people involved were looked after.
Wembley had also made free drinking water available around the stadium and on the pitch, which was particularly welcome given the conditions.
James Bay was already a pretty impressive name to have listed as “support”, but he certainly did not perform like someone simply filling the time before the headline act.
There was another nice connection later in the evening too. James returned to the Wembley stage during Bon Jovi’s headline set to join them for “Legendary”.
From a Scenic Eye point of view, this was exactly why I love photographing live music. You can listen to these songs countless times but standing inside Wembley, watching “Hold Back the River” being sung back towards the stage by thousands of people is something completely different.
A very strong opening to the evening and, judging by the reaction around Wembley, James Bay gained more than a few new fans before Bon Jovi had even walked onto the stage.
