Live Review: State Champs - O2 Kentish Town Forum, London 28/02/2025
On a surprisingly crisp evening, as the final hours of February bid the UK adieu, the O2 Forum in Kentish Town played host to a pop punk show that promised to be pretty darn close to perfect. Headlined by State Champs, over on a European tour celebrating the release of their fifth studio album (last year’s self-titled ‘State Champs’), the night also promised both Broadside, returning to the UK mere months after a string of shows supporting The Dangerous Summer, and the pop-metal outfit of The Home Team, hot on the heels of their own full-sold-out tour back in December.
With fans already crowding into the venue in their droves, an often overlooked benefit of State Champs’ special VIP packages, the room already felt packed by the time the trio of Broadside had claimed the stage — though their being a good quarter of an hour later than advertised probably didn’t hurt either! But were they worth the wait? Well, with a thousand odd souls bouncing up and down as frontman Oliver Baxxter crooned and cried his way through opener ‘Stranger’, or the chorus of voices screaming along to ‘Dazed and Confused’, the crowd certainly seemed to think so. “LET THAT GODDAMN DOG IN THE BED”, he cried before ‘Heavenly’, cat people be damned, as the strained screams in the bridge tore through the room; crowdsurfers taking the proverbial leap over the barrier, then, felt inevitable, though the fact that it took until ‘Coffee Talk’ midway through the set was a surprise.
It was in the final trio of tracks, though, that Broadside really started to shine; first up came ‘Cruel’, featuring a disappointingly brief cameo from The Home Team’s Brian Butcher — another reason that the duo of supports was such a welcome surprised when it was announced — before the impassioned, emo mumble-rap coded vitriol of the ‘Fuck Victory Records’-dedicated hate of ‘Raging Sea’ and the joyful fun of ‘Foolish Believer’ brought the set to a close. A final heartfelt message from Baxxter said it all, really: “if you’ve got some spare money [for merch], yeah boy, but if you don’t, or you don’t even like our band, you’re here — and that’s enough for me”.
And then it was time for The Home Team. There’s something almost magical about how The Home Team manage to blend passionate, scream-filled breakdowns with undeniable melody — it’s weird to call it sexy, but for the life of me I can’t think of a better word. They’ve also had quite a meteoric rise over here; despite having already been active for ten odd years now, it was last year’s ‘The Crucible Of Life’ that catapulted them into the public eye, with the majority of their tour’s tickets being snatched up in a matter of hours. For good reason, too — between Brian Butcher’s seductive pop-coded vocals and the ridiculously catchy instrumentals provided by Olson, Baren, and Matson, it’s hard not to love them. Their back catalogue provides the perfect blend of anthemic catchiness and headbanging-oriented riffs that leaves them at that most coveted spot of appealing to the entire breadth of the music spectrum, supporting the likes of Don Broco or Senses Fail, and more recently The Used, Caskets, and of course, State Champs.
So, when the quartet stormed the stage, back at the Kentish Town Forum once more after supporting The Used here back in 2023, it was to an audience already primed for their particular brand of infectious, alt-pop-punk glory. Opening with ‘Brag’, their twelve song set — a ridiculous amount for a support set! — was pretty much flawless. ‘Right Through Me’ saw its bass-heavy intro driving the crowd into a frenzy, all before the band effortlessly shifted into ‘Slow Bloom’, the band’s progressive elements merging seamlessly with their pop sensibilities.
One of the night’s standout moments, though, came with ‘Somebody Else’s Face’, a collaboration with Broadside’s Baxxter (returning the earlier favour) that had the two vocalists urging each other to greater and greater heights. You couldn’t really ask for more. Combined with the intimacy of ‘Walk This World With Me’ phone flashlights and hands swaying in unison, and The Home Team ticked off all the boxes for delivering a fantastic set.
Whether it was the synchronized dancing of the band during ‘Rich’ or the way Butcher seemed to almost lose himself in the music, spinning until dizzy with excitement, The Home Team made every song feel like a celebration. More than that, it just felt… fun. You could see the sheer joy in every cheesy dance move, every face-splitting grin shot at the crowd.
And then, the final act: State Champs. Anyone with even a passing interest in the pop-punk genre knows State Champs. Having risen to prominence with 2013’s ‘The Finer Things’, the anniversary of which was celebrated only last year by way of special sets for Slam Dunk, State Champs have a way of letting their raucous sing-alongs and pop-punk exuberance drown out anything and everything else going on in the world — a feat sorely needed given, well, everything! With their latest album fresh in the air and a packed-out Kentish Town eagerly awaiting the final night of the tour, The Home Team’s finale of ‘Loud’ signalled the final stretch of silence, the calm before the storm… and then it was time. Racing on stage to a triumphant, bone-shaking instrumental crescendo, before launching into last year’s nostalgia-tinged ‘Silver Cloud’, confetti raining down upon the rabid throngs of fans and the pit of anxious photographers alike, the band made their arrival as dramatic and explosive as possible.
‘Losing Myself’ and ‘Mine Is Gold’ saw as many boots in the air as hands, ecstatic fans practically in tears as they roared along, all while bassist Ryan Graham ran donuts around the stage. So far, so good. ‘Outta My Head’ played its infectious ear-worm self to perfection, frontman Derek DiScanio lapping up the outpouring of love and affection from the crowd, while newer setlist mainstay ‘Light Blue’ reflected a crowd just as in love with the new as they were with the old, screaming along to the Cheshire-smiling DiScanio; although the likes of ‘Elevated’, ‘Hard To Please’, or ‘Remedy’ still couldn’t be topped, the band’s performance seeming almost superfluous under the adoring roars of the crowd in those older numbers.
The mandated circle pit during the organ-intro of ‘Criminal’ felt out of place at first, though the eruption into the first verse quickly remedied that as the pounding, frantic drums kicked in, the crowd whipped into a frenzy, every twist and turn of the song seemed to heighten the chaos, with fans surging forward, fists pumping and voices screaming every word. As the night continued, the final duo of ‘Everybody But You’ and ‘Secrets’ sealed the deal, leaving the crowd breathless and euphoric. And, as the final bursts of red confetti cascaded over the manic legion of fans, State Champs finished with aplomb and a smirking sense of satisfaction borne from knowing they had delivered — and then some.
A final night done right.
Words by James O’Sullivan
Photography by James Kirkland
