LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: SOUTH ARCADE AT THE O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON 28/11/25
South Arcade are a band harnessing the power of nostalgia as an entire identity. It's not only the Y2K aesthetic that feels reminiscent of the height of the early 2000's it's also the intensity of the fandom they've found through expert level social media knowhow that rivals the superstars of the MySpace era.
Liverpool's Stone operates at 100mph. Right from the beginning of their set, singer Fin Power flailed around the stage shouting aggressively into his mic. This kind of yelling could be messy in less skilled hands, but Stone's brand of punk is honed as well as being fast, frantic and sexy.
“I can see you want to dance around and jump around” Power winked at the crowd. Especially ready to jump around was Cookie Monster who was summoned to the front of the crowd. “Cookie monster wants to mosh” Power grinned, jumping down onto the barrier to pat him on the head.
Cookie Monster absolutely did go ham for the next song, ‘Radio Ready’ and ended up crowd surfing over the barrier.
“We are Stone and we are here to warm you up”, was the promise and as the set progressed Stone managed that support band holy grail of standing on business and actually warming the crowd up, the jumping became higher and more widespread and the crowd-surfing more frequently as the night progressed.
‘Moto’ demonstrated the lighter side of the band's message with a song about a mobile phone which even includes a Shrek reference. The outfit then switched to more sentimental messages in the form of a song prefaced with, “Whenever you're struggling in the deep, remember hope ain't gone.”
Back in London in April playing Oslo in Hackney, Stone finished with ‘Leave It Out’ to rapturous applause. Undoubtedly a number of new fans were earned and notes made in diaries for next spring.
As the house lights dimmed and feverish screaming filled the room, South Arcade stomped onto stage and jumped straight into ‘FEAR OF HEIGHTS’' accompanied by a confetti cannon moment, showering the crowd in blue and white. Along with the four giant spray cans around the stage pumping smoke into the room and the band's continuous leaping around, the whole scene was utterly euphoric.
South Arcade's back catalogue is still relatively limited. A post pandemic band - filling a headline set at The Kentish Town Forum could pose a challenge for a young band with only a couple of dozen songs in their four-year arsenal, but here's the thing - they're all bangers - South Arcade are all killer no filler.
Sailing through viral favourites ‘Supermodels' and ‘HOW 2 GET AWAY WITH MURDER’ the bouncing was relentless with the fans screaming back every word.
“I guess something technically dropped today. EP number two baybeeeeee”, singer Harmony Cavelle proudly announced. ‘Play!’ a five-track romp through various speeds of pop-rock is as fresh as it comes. ‘Bleed Out’ from this new EP saw guitarist Harry Winks and bassist Ollie Green diving into the pit and struggling to find their way out through the mosh pits of the sold-out venue.
‘Drive myself home’, also a track from the new EP, but one that has been out as a single for just over a month, went off similarly. “London, show me what you've got” Cavelle yelled before going wild for the breakdown.
‘Blood Runs Warm’ brought the first taste of sentimentality in the band's catalogue with a beautiful ballad that got everyone swaying, arms in the air and twinkling torch lights filling the room.
“This is the biggest show we've ever played, thank you for being part of it”, Cavelle beamed before tearing the room apart with the thrilling closing combination of ‘stone cold summer' and ‘2005' the latter seeing Stone return to the stage to celebrate the final song of the final show, of a triumphant, electrifying and significantly- completely sold out- tour.
Words and photos by Imogen Bird.