More about: Yungblud

Kentish Town Forum has been unseasonably quiet over the last eighteen months. Normally filled with music fans celebrating the magic that happens on that stage, this iconic theatre is ready to see us all back into the world of excitement that music brings. And you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better connoisseur for that return than YUNGBLUD. 

Hours before the show, the venue is enveloped by the now customary pre-show line of black heart club members. Not discouraged by the torrential downpour, the diehards in the queue break out into spontaneous YUNGBLUD choruses and you can tell they have indeed been waiting two years for this one night. 

Inside, the palpable energy is soaked up by the sole support, Kenny Hoopla. This is his first UK performance but you could almost never tell from the show he puts on. Playing a healthy helping from his discography, the set is ladled with backflips and energy that feels truly fitting for a YUNGBLUD show. By the set’s end, it seems he and his band have won over the crowd of loyal fans and set themselves up nicely for their return to the UK next year.

But, as the lights go down for the main act, the immersive experience begins from the first moment. Dom Harrison’s lips are projected and address the crowd in a Rocky Horror-esque manner, before a curtain drop kicks off the night’s performance. Throughout the set—from opener ‘Strawberry Lipstick’ to closer ‘Machine Gun’—it’s clear that this is a concert made to be shared between performer and fans.

Dom expertly switches from bantering with the crowd to controlling them with his movements. The breaks between songs and even his animated energy during songs resembles a pantomime. But every now and again, the rockstar facade drops as his face simply cannot hide the appreciation of that very same fanbase that stuck with him through the uncertainty of the last year.

The show benefits from an impressive light and projection show animated on the backdrop of a wall of Marshall amps, perfectly emphasising the tongue-in-cheek style that Harrison embodies. But even that persona drops as he brings out his acoustic guitar for the more emotional ‘Causal Sabotage’ and ‘love song’. 

Ending the night by jumping atop a black cab outside the venue, the scene of YUNGBLUD relating to his fans resembles something of a renaissance painting. It proves more than ever that this is not for those who don’t get it. But for those who do, it means absolutely everything.

More about: Yungblud