The Royston Club at Omeara

25^th April 2025

Sara Belkadi

Shot by Nick Bennett

Sara Belkadi Shot by Nick Bennett

25 April 2025

If you were in Borough on Thursday night, there’s no doubt you would have seen an endless stream of The Royston Club T-shirt-wearing fans heading for Omeara. The band formed in Wrexham at school and have only grown up – and bigger – since. Their burgeoning fan base packed out the venue. Talking to the crowd, they all remarked how this was their sixth, seventh or eighth show of the Welsh boys. The sweaty room was infused with heat and excitement as the crowd chanted “Royston, Royston, Royston” in anticipation. 

Lead guitarist, Ben Matthias, described the audience afterwards as “Loyal. They were relentless considering that heat”. Lead singer, Tom Faithfull, echoed the same sentiment, describing the show as “really wholesome”. Drummer, Sam Jones, could also feel the love in the room, sharing how “ it felt nice to be brought back to where we started out with our journey with a smaller venue, with people close to us”. Matthias chimed in, “The word could be intimate?” Jones laughed along, “Yeah, it was nice to be intimate with a select 300 people.” Bassist, Dave Tute, was still wiping off the sweat from his forehead, simply calling the show “Warm, very warm”.

The crowd erupted as The Royston Club opened with The Patch Where Nothing Grows. Through the screams, Matthias, Faithfull and Tute were cool, calm and collected. With their breezy button-ups and suit trousers, this might just be the boy band we need now more than ever. As Faithfull and Matthias shared the mic on Shallow Tragedy, the love these guys have for each other was evident. They made the room jump with tracks like Blisters & Mrs Narcissistic, then brought them back down with emotional songs, like the acoustic Cherophobe.

The day before the show, The Royston Club dropped their newest track Shivers. Though it had only been out for a day, their fans knew every word just as well as they knew all the rest. Faithfull said he knew playing the track was “a bit of a risk. It was only out for 24 hours. It’s even riskier when you use the line: ‘You’re gonna know this one'”. The band all laughed at his wisecrack jokes, one imagines much in the same way that they always did in school together. Their chemistry is undeniable; they played every song without cue, shooting little glances at each other and being boisterous on stage. Faithfull tells me, “Ah, that’s just called being unprepared. That’s just what we do together.” Tute threw it back to their school days, explaining how they prepared for the show, “Like you would in school, where you cram it all in the day or so before.” 

Their penultimate track, Mariana, is a fan favourite. Mosh pits ensued and the crowd yearned for more. They capped off with the heavy guitar riffs of I’m A Liar. The boys made sure to give back to their devoted fans, throwing out setlists and guitar picks to a lucky few. With packs of screaming girls, who whispered to me about which band member was their favourite, it’s clear this is only the beginning of The Royston Club. With this show being a warm-up for their headline set at Liverpool’s Sound City, there is so much more to come. You can listen to them online, but these are ones to see live. 

Sara Belkadi
Photos: Nick Bennett

For further information and future events, visit The Royston Club’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Shivers here: