The "Alfie Templeman experience" is brought to O2 Forum Kentish Town
- blondevibrations
- Nov 28, 2024
- 4 min read
For anybody stumbling across this review to only now discover that Alfie Templeman headlined O2 Forum Kentish Town this week, we can only apologise. You have unfortunately missed one of the most impressive live music events to take place this year. A lineup and setlist that truly suits Templeman's most recent album, 'Radiosoul' (2024), this evening was a treat to attend and a snapshot into the world of Alfie Templeman.
As we quickly shuffled into the venue, thinking we were late (thanks to the closure of the Kentish Town Underground station...), the first opener was quite the surprise. Dom Semwanga, known as Semwanga, warmed up the crowd in the best way, considering the torrential rain endured on the way to the show. This is an artist that you would assume had been performing live shows for years, considering his charisma and polished approach to this support slot.
Not many people can pull off a remix of 'Man or Muppet' and 'Man Don't Care', but this was incredibly entertaining and had a surprisingly smooth transition to it. Another standout was one of his own tracks, '5ft 10', which became an immediate 'liked songs' addition.
Finally! After what felt like a lifetime, we were able to catch a Siobhán Winifred set and she certainly lived up to our expectations. This London-based indie-rock talent has been making waves with her vulnerable songwriting, and it was great to see her music come alive on stage with such authenticity and capture that same emotion that oozes from the studio recordings. Tracks like 'Black Hole' and 'Toothpaste' in particular truly captivated the space. Siobhán also charmed the crowd with her rendition of Arctic Monkeys' timeless classic, '505'. Her unique take added a surprising sweetness to the track and really made it her own. She will be headlining venues like O2 Kentish Town in no time.
SOFY is absolutely the perfect opening act, especially for fans of Alfie Templeman. Continuing the Chess Club Records artist theme, with Siobhan Winifred and Alfie Templeman also being signed by the indie record label, this feels like a lineup that could only be curated by the combined mind of Blonde Vibrations. When on stage, Templeman jokes that it's Alfie-Fest, and if Chess Club is able to make this happen in the summer, please do... SOFY has the unmatched ability to energize a crowd and set up a magnetic atmosphere for the duration of the evening. Given that this was just an opening slot, SOFY made every moment count. Opening with 'Big Talk', and guiding us through her discography, both present and future, this truly became a showcase of her versatility as an artist.
Debuting new tracks to any audience is nerve-racking, especially as a support act, but SOFY gave us the perfect insight into the fresh direction of her sound. Teasing unreleased tracks 'desktop' (set for this Friday) and 'frontseat honey' from her upcoming mixtape 'Another Day In Paradise', it gave her the chance to connect with the crowd and truly leave them in anticipation. It would be hard to walk away from this set without becoming a SOFY fan, eagerly awaiting her next release.
Alfie is a remarkable young musician who improves pretty much every time we get to experience one of his live shows. Full of energy and verve, Alfie took to the stage and immediately gave us a taste of the youthful and unpredictable energy from him that we know and love, while performing well-known tracks from his discography, leading with '3D Feelings' and 'Obvious Guy'. The audience was greatly varied in its demographic, bringing fans from all walks of life together to enjoy the blend of psychedelic dance, indie pop, and rock that makes up Templeman's sound.
Alfie's onstage confidence has grown to new heights each time we see him perform with his band, made up of Jos Shepherd, Adam Philip, and Cam Owden. It is easy to soak in their infectious charm while they gave each track a life of its own and infused even more liveliness into the songs than the studio versions. The audience certainly matched this energy and just a couple of songs in, made for an endlessly enjoyable night.
Playing a combination of tracks across older records like 'Forever Isn't Long Enough' (2021) and 'Mellow Moon' (2022), as well as those from his newest project 'Radiosoul', released in June, Templeman's enthusiasm for raring the crowd up never dwindled. While originally hailing from Bedford, Alfie deemed this his home show, with multiple shout-outs to his new stomping ground South London, to which he had moved this year. You could spot the South Londoners enjoying this spotlight, with beers being raised in the air in celebration, to give a toast to their newest neighbour. The track 'Beckham' followed this, which the crowd embraced as he paid homage to familiar places with lines like 'Sutton, Bexley, Tooting, Earlsfield, Streatham, Peckham'.
On this tour, Alfie Templeman transports the audience to a 70s disco -- he had every member of the crowd dancing to tracks released from 2019 up to 2024, really highlighting the strength of his entire discography. Not to mention the addition of support acts like Siobhán Winifred and SOFY; Alfie is taking over the world, one London borough at a time (as we see in 'Beckham'), and bringing some greatly talented friends along with him.
If you like this review, you may like our interview with Alfie Templeman that we conducted back in 2022. Please feel free to give that a read or watch it here.
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