Review: Stereophonics bring arena-sized firepower to a sold-out O2 Arena
Stereophonics deliver the goods and more at a sold-out O2 Arena.
London’s O2 Arena is heaving on a Thursday night (18.12.25), days away from the festive break, with every seat filled and every voice buzzing in anticipation for the arrival of Welsh rock heavyweights Stereophonics.
A home away from home, the band have played the arena before. Known for their ability to raise the roof with songs, this show promises great things.
The release of Make ‘Em Laugh, Make 'Em Cry, Make 'Em Wait earlier this year saw the band dig deeper and produce some of their finest work to date. With a rich catalogue of work behind them, 13 studio records, there’s enough to pick from and take into the live setting. Here, eventful chapters of the band’s career are revisited. They have every right to focus on the bare hits and add a few new songs to the mix.
There’s an honesty about the group’s live gigs, and this one is no different. Frontman Kelly Jones is on form; he talks to the crowd and communicates with ease. Opening tracks Vegas Two Times, I Wanna Get Lost With You and Have a Nice Day make for a breezy start.
The allusion to growing up on the same street as Stuart Cable in Cwamaman, near Aberdare, in South Wales, is a useful reminder of the band’s origins. By no means a stranger to the power of storytelling, Jones knows how to make stories part of the performance. Done with flair, he reminisces, relives pivotal moments of playing alongside The Rolling Stones and U2 and speaking with David Bowie.
New songs, There’s Always Gonna Be Something and Seems Like You Don’t Know Me, go down a treat. Not that there isn’t time set aside for pure, spontaneous moments of anthemic rock, with the glorious sound of Indian Summer, Geronimo, Mr and Mrs Smith, to the stellar Just Looking and timeless classic The Bartender and The Thief.
Stirring, pindrop performances of Maybe Tomorrow and Mr. Writer leave the crowd awe-struck.
Never short of an earworm, Stereophonics have done it again. Just when you think they can't get any better, they up it to another level.
Rating: 4.5
Words: Susan Hansen
