@ Forum O2 Kentish Town
November 11, 2022
Photos and reviews by E Jepson
Start the night very strong, Lizzy Farral makes himself known to adoring fans pressed against the barrier. While the fans were still lined up outside, Lizzy put on an incredible performance with her band, singing angelically and dancing quite seductively. As the set progressed, Lizzy threw one of her suspenders into the crowd causing everyone to stick together in hopes of being the lucky winner. As pink, green and yellow lights danced around the stage, the group did the same, throwing themselves in circles, everyone was surprised that they weren’t dizzy. With such a grip on the crowd, Lizzy invited everyone to bend and squat in anticipation of the melodious chorus in which everyone got up and started dancing, putting all their power into it.
As the lights faded to pink-purple, the team exited, resetting the scene in anticipation of Sun Cemetery. With them was guitarist Matt Scarpelli, who posed for a fan photo at the side of the stage and then knelt down for one of their photographer. As the lights turned orange, lead singer Josh Dotty cautiously stepped onto the stage to deliver a brief speech. He started by explaining how all their kit was stolen a few nights ago in Manchester which meant they couldn’t play in Birmingham last night. Apologizing profusely, he explained that the nice guys on tour had allowed them to borrow just one piece of their gear for tonight’s gig to happen. The whole crowd burst into thanks for this generous donation to the Cimetière Soleil. Letting the crowd’s cheers die down, the rest of the band joined Josh on stage to begin their first song of a mind-blowing set, and with the crowd immediately engaged, people began to sing and dance.
Before playing 19, Josh took a moment to talk about how this song was entirely up to everyone’s interpretation. Shortly after the set began, Lizzie entered the venue through the stage door, alcohol in hand, to enjoy Cemetery Sun’s set. As the stage filled with a stream of hot orange, Josh led the room in “Piece of Shit” which had the crowd chanting very quickly like a call and response type game. With such a powerful set, it was no wonder some audience members had tears in their eyes when Josh asked everyone to pull out their phone torches.
As the lights turned deep red, matching Josh’s hair, he paused to exclaim “this is awesome, this is so refreshing” before checking to see if they had time for their final 2 songs. As quickly as the last song ended, the next one began, immediately prompting people to clap their hands above their heads. With Josh putting so much power and emotion into every word he sings, the constant crowd interaction, and the incredible harmonies of Matt Scarpelli and Elliott Polokoff, it’s no wonder Cemetery Sun has gained such an audience. fervent. Before their last song, “Chemical Warfare”, Josh asked everyone to get on their knees so they could jump at the beginning of the song.
They ended with, “Like I said all of our shit got stolen, if you could buy a beanie it would help so much we could keep this tour going and pay our shit back. Each of you better get off your fucking feet.” With the end looming, everyone pulled out all the stops to enjoy the last song as much as they could, jumping and dancing to the last note. Pausing briefly to take a group photo with the crowd, the group left the stage.
As soon as the lights changed to the same pinkish-purple as before, Josh popped out of the stage door looking for Lizzie and her band to find a place to watch Weathers perform. As he walked past security he looked for his pass, unable to find it, security jokingly told him that it was not necessary: they thought he looked enough like the guy who was right on the stage to let him pass.
Walking like he owns the stage, Cameron Boyer, lead singer of Weather report, had the crowd screaming before a single note was played. As the rest of the band took the stage, a very clear costume theme became apparent: a baby blue suit and white shirt. As the crowd’s cheers died down momentarily, Cameron let out a “London!”
Cameron took a moment to talk about the second song, letting everyone know that Weathers’ mental health is important, and dedicating the next song to depression and everyone who suffers from it. He seamlessly flowed into the next song, pausing briefly afterwards to ask the crowd if they’d ever had someone to fuck them. In response to the overwhelming “yes!” which was shouted out by the crowd, Cameron asked everyone to take a second to photograph that person and then shout “fuck you” as loud as they could after a count of three. Shortly followed by one of the most haunting covers of My Chemical Romance’s ‘Famous Last Words’. The band put everything they had into the song, even more than the rest, it was also reflected in the crowd. Not a single person in the room had their mouth shut, even security sang.
It’s incredibly clear how much the four band members enjoy putting on such a fantastic show, there’s no doubt about it. Everyone put so much enthusiasm and emotion into every word and movement they made until the end. “How many here knows who we are? Cameron called, and once again an overwhelming yes response was thrown back at him, he was mildly surprised at how many fans came to see Weathers and not just Set It Off. With the unity and power found in the piece, Weathers didn’t hesitate to move on to the next song. Cameron took off his suit jacket halfway through the show, which caused the crowd to cheer, revealing a pirate-style patterned shirt.
To announce the next song, he asked if he could teach the crowd a new one. Initially, he sang “My mine, my mine, sleep well at night” which the crowd easily followed. After a few back and forths, the group immersed themselves in an unreleased song, which will be released soon. They continued quickly with ‘Lonely Vampire’ and finally finished such an incredible set with ‘C’est La Vie’ which had everyone moving and dancing. “Thank you, seriously thank you,” Cameron shouted before letting fans know that the band would be by the merchandising table and would be happy to meet everyone outside later before leaving the stage, but not before the drummer takes a photo with the crowd. . An incredible end to their first show in the UK.
Anticipation grew and blue and green lights danced vibrantly through the venue and pink, blue, purple and yellow balloons surfed through the crowd. With the music perfectly fitting the mood of the party, everyone danced as the stage was set. A disembodied voice announced 15 minutes before the showcase. With songs like Discord, Barbie and Ken and Helena on the pre-show tracklist and amazing stage lights, who needed a band? Obviously everything is massively enhanced with live music and this was no exception.
As soon as Disable it leapt across the stage, the crowd let out a deafening scream, and they ran straight into the first song. As the crowd surfers flew by, Cody Carson commented, “I can tell you who’s going to walk away with the top crowd prize”, before launching into the next song. Cody jumped into the pit and onto the crowd, first kneeling, then standing, then riding the crowd. He came back on stage just in time to finish the song and ask, “You know who hasn’t been embarrassed by isolation? The introverts! before launching dramatically into ‘Lonely Dance’. The crowd went wild.
“I want to change the mood right now for anyone who has suffered a loss. I lost my dad in 2008 and there was a song that connected us, ‘Danny Boy’. So please if you’re going through this, heal with me during this song,’ Cody commented as the rest of the band left the stage and he walked over to the keyboard. Everyone took out their phone torches to create an incredibly moving spectacle. “I’m really enjoying the lights, soon there are lyrics about the stars and this place looks like a galaxy!” As the backing track faded, Cody was given a clarinet to make the whole thing even more soulful.
“A toast to you London for having our backs every time, now sing that shit loud” Cody shouted, launching into the next song. As in all groups, everyone put in everything they had. Not a single person was still. Rainbows flew across the stage, bouncing off the fantastic hair colors present both on stage and in the crowd. “I’m not bullshitting you, this is the best show we’ve ever played, you know this is a 2300 sold out show, this is the biggest headliner we’ve ever played played”. As they launched the next song, the crowd went wild knowing what was to come, as several members of the band came to the front of the stage to give an incredible performance as Cody grabbed his saxophone and did the serenade the room, what can’t this man do! It’s been four years since this gig was supposed to take place, and as a result, the band have perfected the set.
Then there was a nine-song mix covering all the albums they released. Cody jumped around with his neon pink mic oblivious to the world, commenting on how much he loves mixed songs. Shades of every color danced delicately but dramatically across the stage as everyone jumped and danced, with sections of the song where all three members of the mobile band danced in sync. Ending the song with a bang, the drummer, Max, came up front to sing along with his ukulele.
Cody quickly stopped after the chorus of the next song to pull someone out of the crowd, taking a second to ask if everyone was okay. Once he made sure and asked if they could continue, the band didn’t hesitate to launch into “Hypnotised”, with Cody descending into the crowd and giving the microphone to random people to sing. with him. As pink light matching Cody’s hair flooded the stage, he finished the song onstage.
At some point during this song, he broke the mic stand, called Nate to fix it, then asked the audience when they would feel stressed next with “Why Worry?”, leading up neatly into the final song of the set. “Thank you so much London, see you soon,” Cody said as he left the stage. “One more song” the crowd clapped, then “Set It Off”, and seconds after doing that the band reappeared, pausing briefly to thank the openers and exclaiming “That’s the fucking best show that I have ever played”. before launching into one last song of the evening. Rainbow lights flooded the stage and everyone gave it their all for the last song. What an incredible evening!
