Supporting Courteeners is a feat in itself with such boisterous fans that are renown for their rowdy, beer throwing antics, let alone tackling it this early on in you career. But it's something Tom A. Smith takes within his stride as he pulled in the crowd from early doors at Camden's Electric Ballroom. 

Steadily building a name for himself over the years, relentlessly touring from a young age, it's still hard to believe he's just 18 with such a commandeering stage presence that courses through his music. This is evidently on display as he wasted no time in getting the heated room moving as they clapped along to recent single Could I Live With Being Fake, its charging percussion and thumping basslines left to bounce around the room amongst the flailing hands. 

It goes without saying, if you put in the work you'll reap the rewards and Tom A. Smith knows this all too well having been playing guitar since he was 4 years old. From supporting artists such as Miles Kane and Gang of Youths to taking to the stage at some of the UK's top music festivals from Glastonbury to Leeds, he's not shy to getting the crowd going and with a second EP on the cusp of release his electrifying trajectory is only set to move up a gear. 

Working his way through his guitar swinging, brash indie hits, effortlessly getting the crowd amped for the headline act, the band clearly know a thing or two about progression and set about igniting an explosive atmosphere from the get go.

Smiling ear to ear, by the time his new single Never Good Enough rolled around the audience were positively fixated as he set about swooping up handfuls of new fans in to the palm of his hand. Quite the contrary to the track's namesake that's for sure. Without wanting to let the intensity in the air letup he's quickly fired in to Dragonfly, another single from his EP1 which was released earlier this year and showcases a powerful side to his sound as its snarling guitars and elated vocals charge toward a driving cathartic crescendo.

It's safe to say with so much drive and ambition Tom A. Smith is a bright young talent who truly appreciates his bandmates and fans alike - and with his anthemic, stadium ready sensibilities, it won't be long before he's selling out full scale tours of his own up and down the country. If this evening's performance is anything to go by it'll be sooner than you think.

*****

f: https://www.facebook.com/TomASmithMusic