Live Review: The Temper Trap - O2 Kentish Town Forum, London 02/11/2025
The Temper Trap bring pure euphoria to Kentish Town Forum.
First up supporting The Temper Trap, are London based indie rock band Tempesst. Originally hailing from the coastal town Noosa in Australia, twin brothers Toma on vocals and guitar and Andy on drums form the core of the band. They have made London their musical home and have built their own music studio and infrastructure in Hackney. Fusing an eclectic mixture of sounds and stylistic influences, there are elements of psychedelic rock, Beach Boys esque sun drenched seventies surfer tinged with pop that is a hit with the nicely balanced mix of the younger and older members of the crowd tonight. The band themselves cite Wings and Laurel Canyon as key influences on their sound which is noticeable in their songs.
Also hailing from down under, The Temper Trap shot to indie rock stardom with their huge anthem ‘Sweet Disposition’ in 2009, which quickly became a festival and film hit, featuring perhaps most notably in the bitter sweet American romantic comedy ‘500 Days Of Summer’. At a very lively, full Kentish Town Forum on Sunday night they are emphatic from the get go, their teasing, dramatic entrance building a huge sense of anticipation from a crowd that are clearly hysterically excited tonight. The thunderous drums on ‘Fools’ set a hugely energetic tone for their performance in this relatively intimate North London venue. After their huge commercial success of their debut album, they released their self-titled second album in 2012 which had a more polished sound. Third album ‘Thick As Thieves’ out in 2016 saw them return to the more raw, energetic sound of their debut.
They live up to their reputation of inspiring huge heartfelt singalongs with their cinematic songs, matching the passion of the band that creates a real feeling of euphoria that makes them so memorable on the live stage. Big, crashing crescendos are a real feature of their songs that makes them so mesmerising on live, honed over their many live shows since their early formation. Released earlier this year in August, their long awaited single ‘Lucky Dimes’, is their first original single in some fifteen years. Frontman Dougy Mandagi remarked: “It’s been an absolute pleasure creating this record … we’re not here to relive the past but to write the next chapter.” Despite their upcoming album not being properly announced yet, the band have stated ‘Lucky Dimes’ is the lead single from the band’s fourth studio album, which the band play early on as the fourth song in their set.
Following this song, in ‘Trembling Hands’ the lead singer’s natural onstage charisma is truly on show, particularly in the song’s huge chorus. With its more dance driven sound, they really get the crowd moving both on the main standing floor and above on the balcony, with many standing from their seats and dancing along with a feeling of wild abandon. Throughout the show the band’s light show is visually hugely impressive combined with the vibrant visuals behind them. In a candid exchange with the crowd, the lead singer says he told his friend he was “Ready to find some peace of mind, when we were in London sixteen years ago!’.
At the mid-way point of the set, their cover of Moby’s ‘Extreme Ways’ delights the crowd and suits the band’s own anthemic sound that their fans fell in love with from the start. As they near the end of what feels like a short but sweet set, the huge excitement building for ‘Sweet Disposition’ erupts with volcano-like intensity as those opening notes and gloriously smooth vocals kick in, at which point the crowd’s energy reaches fever pitch. Surprisingly not closing with ‘Sweet Disposition’ which is instead the encore’s penultimate track, the band close with their second recent single ‘Giving Up Air’, which is sure to be future live favourite and ends a hugely emotional performance, providing both nostalgia and real promise for the future.
Words by Brendan Sharp
