Live Review: Oh Wonder - O2 Empire Shepherd’s Bush, London 09/03/2020
Having listened to their recent single ‘Hallelujah’ and becoming obsessed with it, I listened to nothing else of theirs because I was sure it couldn’t possibly compare, I had no idea what to expect from my first Oh Wonder gig. All I knew was that this Shepherd’s Bush show sold out the day it was released, and that it was therefore bound to be lively and full of genuine fans.
As the buzzing crowd waited patiently for the lights to dim, steaming cups of tea were brought onto the stage and positioned under two keyboards, followed soon after by Josephine and Anthony, the electronic alt-pop duo that make up Oh Wonder, along with their bassist and drummer. Their opening few songs consisted of tracks titled ‘Happy’ and ‘Better Now’, and the euphoric, joyful and playful nature of these were characterised not only by the pounding synths and dancing melodies played by the four of them, but also by the fact that when the end came, Josephine needed the huge bow on the back of her dress re-tying!
The story of ‘How It Goes’ was spoken about beforehand as beautifully as it was sung afterward, as Josephine confided in the audience, explaining how she wakes up some mornings thinking ‘my skin is glowing, I’m smashing my job, I’ve got a boyfriend, and he’s quite hot’ (much to the amusement of Anthony), but that this will be followed by a day of loneliness and gloom. The message of accepting the inevitability and complete normality of sadness, but holding on to the days when we feel invincible and exhilarated and using them to pull us through difficulty, washed over the crowd and permeated the rest of the songs from their new album, ‘No One Else Can Wear Your Crown’.
Having thanked the crowd for enabling them to play their hometown venue where they’d seen Adele and Jessie J as teenagers, and the roof of which had fallen in last time they were due to play it, the stage filled with smoke and backlit the band, silhouetting them as they sang the opening verse of ‘Technicolour Beat’, sounding as angelic and perfect as they looked. The layering of the vocal and electronic keyboard harmonies blended and layered to create a rich warmth that built as the strobes became more frequent and the drums’ sound intensified. The display on the screens of the thousands of phones recording pulsed together, united miniatures of the immense ‘The 1975’-esque light show on stage.
Breaking only long enough for Josephine to give an empowering speech in honour of International Women’s Day, after which she was so eager to play she started without letting Anthony or her band know, causing hysterical laughter on an off stage, the last part of their set looked and sounded even more impressive than the rest. As if in a fitness class, Josephine leapt across every inch of the stage, doing star jumps, skipping and catching the air and the light with the skirt of her sheer polkadot dress, and Anthony played punchy keyboard and guitar chords, punctuated by the equally dynamic and vivacious drum and bass.
The pair closed the show with ‘Hallelujah’, confetti, and looks of genuine love for each other and for the crowd they were reluctant to leave. Oh Wonder will leave you equally as elated and full of love for life. What better reason to listen?
Words and Photography by Alice Sutton