Live Review: Oliver Tree - O2 Kentish Town Forum, London 06/11/2022
The last three years being such a blur it’s been a long old time since the UK was blessed with the bowlcutted presence of Oliver Tree, a short run this time of only three dates around the country, we had to of course scooter down to his biggest show to date at The Forum in Kentish Town!
Only being announced a few hours prior to doors, Royal & The Serpent were tonight's support!
From the first to the last song the room felt electric with energy that the band brought this evening, the dark electro-pop tunes instantly gripped the audience and had everyone jumping.
‘No Regrets’ and ‘CHOKE’ were some real highlights of the set but the top spot was reserved for Royal’s collaboration with Slush Puppy ‘EAT SPIT!’ which saw mosh pits opening all over the venue! Royal & The Serpents first UK show was an undoubted success and we will be watching for her next trip over here for sure.
Warming up the crowd by playing Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ it was now time for The Man, The Myth, The Oliver Tree!
Cruising on stage on a scooter as per usual fashion, donning some enormous flared jeans Oliver jumped straight into the action with ‘Alien Boy’ which got an ear deafening scream from the crowd. The entire set he proceeded to put on a questionable English accent and reiterate that he was actually born in London and not the US, so this was a homecoming show of sorts.
‘All That’ and ‘Fuck’ really got the place warmed up, countless arms in the air as every person was jumping, mid way through the set was the TikTok portion of the set as he played current smash hit ‘Miss You’ back to back with last years fav anthem ‘Life Goes On’!
A quick wardrobe change while Sandstorm by Darude blasted out of the speakers, wandering back on stage now draped in head to toe denim cowboy outfit Oliver then went on to play two of the more popular tracks from his latest album ‘Cowboys Don’t Cry’ and ‘Swing and a Miss’.
The last portion of the set consisted of a few Oliver Tree classic’s like ‘Miracle Man’, to be honest it was difficult to understand when the last part of the set would be as he said every song was the last song before asking if we wanted to hear another.
As the last few notes of ‘Im Gone’ echoed through Kentish Town, we took a moment to reflect on tonight's show, a truly chaotic set from the main man himself, but we truly wouldn't have it any other way from Oliver Tree!
Words and Photography by Joe Dick
