Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

SYML (Brian Fennell) came to The Bellwether in Los Angeles on November 8, 2026, with just a guitar, a piano, and his voice, and gave the sold-out seated audience a night of emotional performance and personable chattiness for the second of two nights at the end of his tour run.

Olivia Vedder opened the show with some solid songs, the Bellwether shows being only two of a handful she’s done. A few months ago she made a solid guest appearance with Jake Wesley Rogers at the Ohana Festival, so she’s aligning herself with some very talented singer-songwriters as she launches her own career.

SYML means “simple” in Welsh, and the Seattle-based Fennell embodies it with his mostly quiet, heartfelt music. The balance of melodic, catchy and singable songs alongside some really devastating lyrics sets him apart from other contemporary artists, and the combination, especially live, is pretty breathtaking. During the latter third of this show when he took audience questions, he was asked what his favorite sad songs are, and he immediately said “Mad World,” and then thought on it and added “Accidental Babies” by Damien Rice, so that gives you an idea of where his sadness barometer lives.

The set opened with “Believer” which set the quiet but intense tone of songs to come, and then he moved into “How It Was It Will Never Be Again” and “Careful,” which gave us vulnerability alongside some hope.

Fennell’s voice is an incredible instrument on its own, and performing solo put it on front and center display. He’s at ease going from delicate intimacy into soaring charged passages, and without the fuller studio arrangements the songs took on a different special character that the audience loved.

He played “Girl,” a fan favorite from his 2019 self-titled debut, and that plus “I Was Stone” gave the crowd two big examples of the emotional directness that has become central to SYML’s appeal. “Girl” is filled with love and vulnerability and is probably one his most affecting songs.

The middle portion of the 16-song set moved through “Better Part of Me,” “Wake,” and “Fear of the Water,” before arriving at “DIM” and “STAY CLOSE.” He also gave us a cover of “Champagne Supernova” which fit pretty nicely with his own work and gave the more casual attendees a quiet banger to sing along with.

Throughout the night he dedicated songs to people who’d written to him with their own personal stories asking him to dedicate particular tracks for particular reasons, which was a very sweet thing to do. Fennell seems like a warm, approachable man, and he bears a passing resemblance to the actor Justin Hartley which makes him pretty easy on the eyes. So when he spent the latter part of the show telling funny stories and chatting with the audience (hello, Tijuana’s Frank/Francisco) in between songs, people were happy to participate. Some things he mentioned in response to audience questions: he loved 98 Degrees and Savage Garden growing up, he really clicked with Olivia Vedder when they wrong songs together and that’s not something that happens every day, his dad who’s no longer with us loved great blue herons and Fennell has a GBH tattooed on his arm, only two repeat songs were on the setlist from the night before, the San Francisco Castro show was very special, he has three kids, and he started playing music in middle school.

His final songs were “I Wanted to Leave,” “Carry No Thing,” and “Heavy Hearts,” before finishing with the big streaming hit “Where’s My Love,” the song that introduced many listeners to Fennell’s music.

In this era of bands who are celebrated for jumping off platforms in front of the Washington Monument, which is definitely awesome, it’s also nice to spend an evening with a performer whose connection comes from a stripped down place of pure songwriting and love.

This tour has ended, but keep up to date with all the latest news and info at www.symlmusic.com.