Live Review: Oliver Tree - The Underworld, London 08/05/2019
Outrageous outfits, banging beats and the best goddamn bowl cut we have seen in years, the infamous Oliver Tree had brought his quirky anti-pop across the ocean to London and everyone was agreed that tonight would be a non-stop fun train…
A packed-out Underworld in Camden was the scene for the tonight’s show, a venue usually more prone to slightly heavier act then this evening’s entertainment. Nevertheless, the shows opener was musical vibration master NVDES who combined a DJ set with his live vocals, every song was an upbeat banger which had the audience instantly cutting shapes left and right. NVDES level of energy he portrayed onstage definitely helped the show move along, there were a few people not too sure what to think of it but after a few songs they realised he was just there to have a good time, they joined in and bopped their head along.
It was obvious there was some hard-core Oliver Tree fans in the venue, once the 10minute mark hit they would let the entire crowd know by screaming the amount of time before the bowl cut meme-lord entered the stage. A more upbeat version of Oliver Tree and Getter’s collab ‘Forget It’ played before the man himself scootered onstage showing off enough skill to make Tony Hawk jealous (yes, we know Tony Hawk rides a skateboard).
From then on it was a full-on party, the booty shaking ‘Upside Down’ had the crowd moving like nothing we had seen before, even Oliver had to say “UK crowds are so much better than US ones, you guys bring so much energy”. ‘All That’ & ‘Enemy’ continued in the same way, crowd jumping and screaming back every lyric, all while Oliver ran about the stage in some of the biggest flare jeans we have seen since the 90’s; a quick change into a ski visor and bucket hat before performing fan favourite ‘Hurt’ about his tragic scooter accident in a full tracksuit emblazed with that iconic 90’s paper cup print!
Another quick change into a luminescent balaclava for new song ‘Waste My Time’ which the audience were especially hyped for; alas that was just the warm up for newly released heavy hitter ‘Fuck’ which exploded out of the speakers, knocking over a few people I’m sure!! An amazing rendition of his most popular track ‘Alien Boy’ truly topped the night, giving it a more pop-punk vibe this evening over the usual electronic beats we are used to, by no means was it bad though, if anything we liked it even more if that’s possible.
‘When I’m Down’ closed the set this evening, even though it was the last song neither the crowd or Oliver showed it, putting as much passion into singing and dancing around the venue as they had for the whole show!
A truly fantastic headline show by this wacky musical genius, there was not one lull in the show, Oliver Tree knows how to control a room and I’m sure the next time he comes back to the UK that room will be a lot larger, good times are ahead for Oliver Tree!!!
Words and photography by Joe Dick