image credit; Judy Jakubowicz-Klein

On a rainy Thursday evening in Glasgow, American indie-pop singer-songwriter Jared Benjamin brought his ICARUS tour to the intimate surroundings of King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on St Vincent Street, delivering a performance filled with humour, heartfelt stories and emotional moments.

An independent artist from Long Island, New York, Benjamin first gained recognition following the release of his song “Flatline”. However, it was social media, particularly BookTok, TikTok’s community of book lovers, that helped him reach a wider international audience. After a friend connected his song “Three Steps Ahead” with the fantasy romance novel Fourth Wing, Benjamin began creating content inspired by the book, introducing his music to a new audience of readers and fans, including those in the UK.

It was this growing international following that helped bring him across the Atlantic for his ICARUS tour. Glasgow marked his first visit to Scotland and, as the only Scottish stop on the tour, offered local fans a unique opportunity to experience his music live.

As someone who had been dragged along to the concert without knowing any of his work, I arrived with few expectations. What followed, however, was an evening that would completely change my impression of the artist.

The intimate setting of King Tut’s made the experience feel personal from the very beginning. Rather than creating a distance between himself and the audience, Benjamin appeared comfortable sharing the space with his fans, while the easy chemistry between him and his crew added to the relaxed atmosphere. Their laughter and interactions between songs made it clear that there was a genuine enjoyment in what they were doing, creating a sense that the audience was being welcomed into something more personal than just a performance.

The evening was not without its lighter moments, either. From a misbehaving microphone to jokes and conversations with the audience, Benjamin brought a sense of humour and spontaneity to the stage. These moments balanced the more emotional parts of the evening, allowing the concert to feel less like a carefully rehearsed show and more like an evening spent sharing music and stories.

Yet, it was the personal stories behind his songs that made the performance particularly memorable. Between songs, Benjamin opened up about different aspects of his life, giving the audience a deeper understanding of the experiences behind his lyrics.

In “I’m Coming Home”, he shared the story of his long-distance relationship with his girlfriend, Diana Thale. His openness continued with “Meant to Be”, a song through which he reflected on his struggles with mental health, before turning to a more personal family experience with “Sue”, which touches on his grandfather’s battle with dementia.

Hearing the stories behind these songs gave them an added emotional weight. What might have otherwise been just another evening of live music became an opportunity to connect with the person behind the lyrics. His willingness to share these experiences, alongside the intimacy of the venue, made the performance feel particularly genuine.

For the final moments of the evening, Benjamin brought that sense of closeness even further. With just a guitar in hand, he moved into the middle of the crowd to perform “Flatline”, the song that first brought him recognition. Stripped back to its simplest form, the performance brought the evening full circle, with the audience gathered around him as he sang the song that had helped launch his career.

By the end of the night, the rainy Glasgow evening that had initially brought me to King Tut’s had become a surprisingly memorable experience. I had arrived knowing little about Jared Benjamin, but left with a new appreciation for his music and the stories behind it.