Live Review | The Royston Club @ O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester

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The Royston Club

O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester

9th May 2026

Photography by Gary Walker

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Welsh indie rock back The Dalston Club maintain intimate connection with crowd at huge Manchester gig

With ontrolled vocals and harmonies flowing through the whole gig, The Royston Club have got their live set to perfection, led by two school friends whose chemistry makes every performance feel effortless.

Hailing from Wrexham, they’ve built their reputation over the years through anthemic indie hooks and a ragged emotional honesty that is still effective in a venue as large as Victoria Warehouse. They’ve earned it over years of gigging and an ever-expanding fanbase who know every word of every song.

From sold-out shows at London’s KOKO to conquering Glastonbury three times, the bands trajectory has been extraordinary. Yet unlike lots of larger bands, they’ve deliberately maintained an intimate feel, such as the launch of their most recent album ‘Songs For The Spine’ at Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool. This sense of community and closeness defines them wherever they go.

Opening with ‘Shivers,’ the crowd was theirs from the first chord. ‘I’m a Liar’ and ‘Glued to the Bed’ followed, with the sharp hooks and surging rhythm necessary to engage a crowd so large. Their development as musicians was clear through guitar riffs and solos, assurance growing visibly with every sold-out show.

‘30/20,’ inspired by songwriter Ben Matthias feeling a strange guilt while driving back to Wrexham and realising he’d forgotten Wales had lowered its speed limit, is deceptively simple. A snapshot of growth and displacement that landed with precision. Then came ‘Mrs Narcissistic’ an earlier release whose Strokes-tinged guitar intro still proved a crowd pleaser.

The boys will never be rockers, but they have hit the perfect niche: the music industry’s number one yearners: each song more emotional than the last, relationship trauma packaged within infectious indie swagger.

‘A Tender Curiosity’ played acoustically by Tom and Ben was a quietly devastating peak of the night, followed by a cover of ‘Waterloo Sunset,’ perfectly paired to a northern crowd. Two songs about longing, back-to-back, felt by everyone in the room. ‘Puddles’ and ‘Blisters’ pushed the energy of the crowd back up to roaring frequency, before ‘The Ballad of Glen Campbell,’ the album closer on ‘Songs For The Spine,‘ brought the main set to a conclusion. At over six minutes, the song earned every second.

The final song of the night in the encore was ‘Cariad’. Gold stage lights glowing, peaking vocals, and tender verses. A towering, slow-burning hook was accompanied by Faithfull’s vocals accompanying the crowd: a collective release of emotion felt by the whole venue.

This is what The Royston Club continue to do. They make big rooms feel small, and small feelings feel enormous.

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