Nessa Barrett – London Night 1 – 3rd June 2025

Sombr

As Sombr joined the stage with his band, they were met by a roar of cheers from the crowd. His set consisted of many deep cuts, fan favourites and an unreleased single ‘I wish I knew how to quit you‘. His music has a nostalgic quality to it and his incredible lyricism is incomparable. There is no way to listen to his music without feeling anything. I hope that one day everyone can find love that makes them feel the same way as portrayed throughout his discography. It is clear that Sombr falls in love hard, but his fans fall in love with his music even harder, you could see and hear small groups of friends singing along to every single word together throughout the venue. The crowd was much quieter during the slower songs allowing his vocals to shine through on ‘do I ever cross your mind‘ and ‘I don’t know you anymore‘ before the fans joined back in on ‘undressed‘ and ‘Caroline‘. His music has hints of very early Twenty One Pilots and older Hozier music. Sombr also made sure his band members each got a little spotlight moment to show off their talents as well as making sure his fans knew they were appreciated by interacting with signs and climbing down to the barrier to be closer to them. Before ending his set with hit song ‘back to friends‘, accompanied by a giant leap from the back of the stage and ending with him and his guitarist finishing the song lying down. 

Nessa Barrett

Nessa Barrett took to the stage dressed in an exquisite black feathered ensemble with her purple bass, starting her set off strong with ‘Dirty Little Secret‘. She is back on a headline tour with her latest album ‘Aftercare‘, playing 2 sold out nights at O2 Kentish Town Forum in London. Just 2 years ago she was playing venues three times smaller, this shows how much she has grown as an artist in the last few years and not just based on the size of her fanbase, she seemed much more sure of herself as a person and artist on stage too. Her stage presence and confidence have grown massively.

Her incredible vocals were put on display without a series of note changes which caught her fans off guard. At the back of the venue, you could find small groups of friends having the time of their lives dancing along to all the songs together, wearing Nessa-inspired outfits. Her setlist had a good mix of newer upbeat songs as well as older fan-favourites which had everyone singing along to the emotional lyrics, which I am sure many fans in attendance have sought comfort in at some point in their lives. Towards the end of her set, she covered Portishead’s ‘Glory Box‘ which was the perfect addition and paired with her voice perfectly before ending with title track ‘Aftercare’.

The sound mix and production were incredible. They filled the venue with booming drums and bass lines which combined with her ethereal vocals sounded magical. The projected visuals that accompanied each song combined with the light show and sound made for the ultimate experience for the spectators.

Nessa came back out to an uproar of cheers and applause for a three-song encore which consisted of a fan-favourite from each of her projects; ‘the one that should have got away‘ from her EP ‘hell is a teenage girl‘, ‘die first‘ from her debut album ‘young forever‘ and ‘P*RNSTAR‘ from her latest album ‘Aftercare‘.

Tickets to the rest of the tour dates can be found here. As well as tickets to Sombr’s Headline shows here.