Amber Run @ Kentish Town Forum

Amber Run performed at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town last Saturday (25th February) and honestly, I’m still in awe.

If I was provided with the ultimate question of having to sum the night up in one word; it would be ‘wet’ – except this is only due to the fact that I queued outside the venue from 15:00 in a monsoon-like downpour under blankets and pizza box cardboard.

However, if I was equipped with two words to synopsise the evening then they would undoubtedly be ‘honest’ and ’emotional’.

The sheer euphoria and passion of the eventide were experienced almost immediately with the new age duo Meadowlark as the first support act. Their set featured the sanguine-trance-love anthem that is ‘Headlights’ and the ethereally soothing, audience semi-sung ‘Fly’. Having not listened to Meadowlark prior to the event, I can easily say that their captivating and beautifully fun performance made the entire audience instantly fall in love, I included.

The succeeding support act was the London-based, indie (slightly rocky at times) band Island. Their emotion evoking set included the impressively weightless ‘I’ve Been Searching’, the Spotify hit ‘Stargazer’ and the celestially Elysian experience that is ‘Spotless Mind’. It is transparently clear that many members of the audience had a pre-existing love and devotion to Island; creating a fan-fueled surge of energy and enjoyment throughout the whole set which then continued through to an alcohol fueled wild photo session after the show.

Now, onto Amber Run; the pinnacle performance. As the lights drastically dimmed and the wave of fans cheered with elated anticipation, the Nottingham-born band entered stage right and commenced their set with the feel good track ‘Spark’ and fiery drum led ‘Pilot’ from their debut album ‘5AM’. Subsequent to this, they performed a handful of tracks from their sophomore record ‘For A Moment, I Was Lost’, including; ‘Insomniac’, ‘Stranger’ and ‘Fickle Game’. The band also played a multitude of fan favourites; the anthemic likes of ‘Just My Soul Responding’ and ‘Noah’ and the heart-shatteringly dark ‘Wastelands’.

The 3 song long encore consisted of ‘Haze’, ‘I Found’ and ‘No Answers’. This monumental encore of their most powerful works generated a blissful and united atmosphere for all. From the delicateness of ‘Haze’ and the irrefutable elegance of an entire 2,500 capacity venue singing ‘I Found’ in unison to their heart’s content to the raw fervent passion that permeates the live performance of ‘No Answers’, each and every one of us felt honoured to experience such a distinctively sincere moment – it certainly felt like something special.

I would urge all of you to attend a future Amber Run tour without hesitation, from the bottom of my heart I can say you do not want to miss out on such a formidable affair.