Jacob Alon had the difficult job of introducing what the Roundhay Festival had to offer beyond headliner Lewis Capaldi. Our full festival review can be found here – but suffice it to say that I wasn’t really sure how Roundhay would define itself. Good music festivals, in my opinion, should feel like a different world once you step beyond the entrance barrier. The greatest festivals I’ve ever been to have felt like they’ve lifted me into another dimension, but walking into Roundhay felt more like a day event. 

So I’m happy to say that Jacob proved us wrong, with the way they built crowd hype perfectly – all while delivering Ben Howard-style guitar in intricate tunings, and delicate vocals. Their vocal performance felt effortless, while achieving impressive ranges created a unique and quite captivating experience. 

Throughout their set, Jacob Alon was owning the stage. They spoke well, honest and open with the crowd, with a level of artistry that absolutely belonged on a large stage. Unfortunately, moments of this vulnerability actually detracted from their set – they felt almost apologetic for their presence. I felt a moment where the immersion broke as they were performing a great sounding track, but called it off very quickly as they weren’t feeling it.

I was disappointed, if only because I wanted to hear more great music from them! Before this their presence was relatable, but professional – and this unfortunately took away from that.

In all fairness, if we were to be the devil’s advocate for Jacob: playing the early slot of a main stage at a festival is a tricky thing. It’s easy to see the ground that Mr. Capaldi would fill later in the day, instead of the hundreds stood intently listening. Filling that space is its own skill learnt through experience, encompassing engaging well with the audience and owning the moment when people are still pouring through the gates.

The musicianship in their songs was incredible, with the vocals feeling familiar but unique to themselves. I think there may have been times where the backing track was possibly too strong, but perhaps this was just the diversity of their sound – though the more produced songs felt like they had lost the organic nature of their performance and songwriting.

Overall, Jacob was the first step of transforming our normal world to that of the festival. They captured my focus. While everybody was rushing around to see what the festival had to offer, a group of music lovers were absolutely enraptured by the melodic, delicate tones Jacob had coming from the main stage. The performance was working! I just wish they could take the next step, and lose the self-deprecation shown throughout their performance – because you’re on the main stage! And you deserved to be.

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You can keep up with Jacob Alon on their Instagram and Spotify.