Live Review + Gallery | Dope Lemon @ O2 Forum Kentish Town

Dope Lemon | piri & tommy

O2 Forum, Kentish Town

5th September 2025

Photography by Matt Wellham

Dope Lemon takes to O2 Forum Kentish Town to show off new album in sun-soaked performance with support from piri & tommy

Earlier this year, Australian artist Angus Stone released his fifth album ‘Golden Wolf’ under his solo project Dope Lemon. The record continues to blend Stone’s signature cocktail of sun-soaked indie with notes of psychedelic and folk. It’s a mellow, hazy listen and one that landed him a No. 1 on both the Australian Albums Chart and the Vinyl Albums Chart.

Following the album’s release in May, Stone embarked on a mammoth world tour and four months in, it was finally London’s turn. Arriving in Kentish Town, the sky was awash with soft hues of pink and blue, painting a picture almost identical to Dope Lemon’s ‘Rose Pink Cadillac’ era. The historic art deco venue buzzed below as fans piled out of the pub next door and made their way inside.

Opening tonight were Manchester’s piri & tommy. After a slightly awkward technical hiccup caused a false start, the pair, backed by a drummer, stormed the stage to a round of cheers. The duo kicked things off with a couple of unreleased disco-inspired tracks, ‘venus’ and ‘Miss Provocative’. The latter is a major throwback to Justin Timberlake’s ‘Señorita’ and soon had the crowd moving.

As they shifted into the tracks that first rose them to fame through TikTok, Villiers casually strolled the stage, laying down smooth chord patterns over the liquid drum and bass backing, while Piri dominated the floor, dancing from left to right, turning the venue into her very own dance party. ‘Soft Spot’, ‘On & On’ and a cover of Moloko’s ‘Sing It Back’ all proved to be fun, fluid listens, before Piri closed the set with a flag performance and thanked Dope Lemon for having them on the upcoming run of shows.

After a short break, the lights dimmed and the room filled with haze, announcing Dope Lemon’s imminent arrival. Looking back over the crowd, an array of fans were kitted out in merch spanning the various albums Stone has created since 2016. London’s Australian community were out in force to support one of their own.

Then the lights went out and the audience roared. Stone and his band took their places on stage and instantly kicked things off with ‘Stonecutters’ into ‘How Many Times’, two massive hits from Dope Lemon’s debut record ‘Honey Bones’. ‘How Many Times’ perfectly showcases the project’s sound: thick and smoky. Stone swayed from left to right, raising his guitar to pick out the repetitive notes. The lighting flicked from blue to red, the band punctuating each shift with crashing notes as Stone reeled off the lyrics: “She got a red light, hanging on her door. She cook that blue flame, she’ll have you on the floor, begging for more.”

‘John Belushi’ followed, the first track from ‘Golden Wolf’, with Stone dedicating it to the late Blues Brothers actor. As the track began, fans were greeted by Dope Lemon’s signature dancers, flanking the stage in oversized mascot costumes styled after characters from his various eras. It was a playful touch that added to the psychedelic, whimsical feel of Stone’s world.

‘Marinade’ and ‘Hey You’ made early appearances, a good moment to mention just how stacked the setlist was. Across five records, Stone has created countless standout singles, and it didn’t feel like a single one slipped through the cracks tonight. He crafted an emotive journey filled with monumental highs and woozy softness that spanned the Dope Lemon catalogue; there wasn’t a dud in sight.

A personal highlight was hearing ‘Honey Bones’ live. The track that’s stayed in heavy rotation on my playlists over the years was a total standout here. This lo-fi, sun-bleached song is built around a laid-back groove, with reverb-drenched guitars echoing around the room and Stone’s hushed vocal delivery blending with the smoke creeping across the stage. Its looseness created an intimate, sultry tone that was completely infectious.

Close your eyes and you felt like you were floating into a daydream, caught up in the hypnotic cycle of the slow-burning romance Stone sings about. But I’d recommend keeping them open, because the light show was phenomenal. As the song reached its crescendo, the minimal scene erupted into a visual explosion, strobes flaring against beams of red, lighting up the utterly intoxicated crowd.

As the night drew to a close, Stone continued weaving old and new, rolling through ‘Yamasuki – Yama Yama’ (a personal favourite from ‘Golden Wolf’), ‘Electric Green Lambo’, alongside older classics like ‘Uptown Folks’ before ending on ‘Home Soon’. That final stretch felt like one big beach party, the lights glowing in soft hues of pink and orange as the crowd embraced each other, singing along as if transported to the Gold Coast.

Through this job, I get to attend a lot of concerts and, to put it bluntly, this was the best show I’ve seen in 2025. What Dope Lemon has crafted on this colossal world tour is a show that creates an atmosphere reminiscent of hazy dreams of desire and the warm embrace of the sun in the long summer evenings. To summarise, I’ll leave you with Dope Lemon‘s own lyrics: “Lemons don’t get much sweeter than this”.

If you have a chance to catch this world tour, I’d strongly recommend it. If not, sit back and soak in ‘Golden Wolf’ below.