Live Review: Aries - O2 Forum Kentish Town, London 28/01/2022
With an extremely dedicated fanbase behind him and having just released his newest and highly anticipated album Believe In Me, Who Believes In You; producer/rapper ARIES took off on his world tour and his first pit stop being London.
With it being a typical freezing January evening in London, the masses of ARIES fans standing outside the O2 Forum in Kentish Town were eager to get inside and dance the cold away!
The bustling crowd got a swift wake up when opener Oliver Malcolm took to the stage, having been producing music for countless artists for years Malcolm has more recently been putting out music under his own name, his punky but soulful tracks gave everyone the jumpstart they needed to get this evening going! Malcolm was grooving and jumping all over the stage having a great time, maybe even too good a time as he bent his mic stand at almost a 90degree angle!
A rather daunting countdown blasted out of the speakers as ARIES band played before the man himself swept out onto stage, with an instant raucous reaction from the front row as he dropped into fan favorite ‘FOOLS GOLD’! A barrage of flowers were hurled on stage from the front row as soon as the first song had finished to ARIES surprise and joy, thanking everyone he continued on with ‘BOUNTY HUNTER’ and ‘KIDS ON MOLLY’, two huge singles from his latest project.
The crowd seemed to know every song on the setlist this evening, from all the latest album’s bangers to some older classics such as ‘Amy’s Grave’, but the true madness came when he dedicated ‘‘One Punch’ to his London fans and aptly said “this is your song, I want to hear you sing it!!”, which everyone graciously did.
The show went by in what seemed like a flash after that, a speedy rendition of ‘RACECAR’ and even a cover of ‘A Thousand Miles’ by Vanessa Carlton which had the entire audience screaming like a drunk relative at a wedding! Of course after such an amazing night there had to be an encore, striding back out on stage ARIES closed the first night of tour with the perfectly fitting ‘SAYONARA’.
An incredible start to a tour, it's sometimes hard to believe ARIES is only a mere 23 the way he is able to control a crowd, it's as if he has been doing it for a decade not a couple years! We can’t wait for his next appearance in the UK, I'm sure he won't disappoint for the remainder of the world tour!
Words and Photography by Joe Dick
