Orville Peck @ O2 Kentish Town Forum

Orville Peck @ O2 Kentish Town Forum (Emma Stone)

Set against a deep red curtain backdrop, with lamps and ornamental plants adorning the stage, the band walk out to Prologue (Eulogy of a Man Turn Mule), sung by country legends Emmylou Harris, Allison Russell and Noah Cyrus. Face obscured by his trademark mask, Orville Peck welcomes us by telling us they’ll not only be playing Mule in full, but he’ll also be taking us on a journey with the stories behind the songs. The anthemic Big Ol’ House opens the show, with Orville’s iconic baritone vocals ringing out across the room, showing that tonight is going to be a show to remember.

There’s a humour in the way he chronicles his descent into booze and drugs with Already Gone, and despite the serious subject matter, there’s an air of lightheartedness about the songs he plays next. He lets us know it’s OK to laugh if we find Rehab Blues funny, and the self-awareness he has about his inability to take his stint in rehab during Ring The Bell is refreshing, but the evening soon shifts to a more sombre note as he leads into Blue Skies.

By the time he reaches The Fall, he takes a second to introduce his band, acknowledging how much gratitude he owes them for being a reason to help himself get better. Before playing the song, he gets a little choked up as he tells us how it was born out of a promise he and his ex-partner made to each other, to meet up again in the fall to see if they’d gotten to a point where they could reunite with one another. As Orville stands tall at the microphone with his voice echoing across the room, without his signature White Falcon to hide behind, this song becomes one of the most poignant of the evening.

Ahead of Cowboy Heart, he tells of how recovery and getting sober is the reason he’s still with us today, and implores anyone who might be struggling to seek help. He’s not saying this to lecture or to preach, but in the hope that anyone who faces similar struggles can get the help they need. Before The Breeze, The Grass, The Mourning Dove and Me, he answers the question we’re all dying to know the answer to: that he and his partner did eventually reunite, and they’re still together to this day and, to quote a cliché, the crowd goes wild. We’ve all been so invested in this story that our cheers of relief and joy at this news almost drown him out as he launches into Run Out Of Road and Too Little, Too Late.

He wraps up this portion of the evening with the final two songs on the album, War of the Worlds and the titular Mule. Orville’s always named his albums after all things equine, and for those who don’t know, a mule is a horse/donkey hybrid, bred purely for work, unable to breed. He explains that he feels he identifies most with the mule at this juncture of his life, as he also felt like he was straddling two worlds, not really sure where to exist between them.

With the storytelling part of the evening well and truly over, and having changed into his OG fringed mask, Orville and his band return to the stage to play a handful of hits off his older albums for their encore. Starting with Turn To Hate before moving into C’mon Baby, Cry, the room soon goes silent as the sound of crickets chirps throughout the room, the unmistakable live intro to Dead of Night. I think it’s safe to assume that the hairs on the back of everyone’s necks are standing up whilst he sings the iconic lyrics, “See the boys as they walk on by”, carrying the high note across the room. Ending on an energetic high with Daytona Sand, the stage lights go down as the house lights go up, and the night draws to a close.

Ordinarily, I think we can all agree that it can be a little frustrating when an artist spends more time talking between songs than they do playing them. After all, you go to a gig for the music, right? But tonight has been just as much about the stories as it has the songs, and Orville’s experiences are so deeply woven into the fabric of this album that it feels essential to know the context behind them to fully understand them. The audience hangs on to his every word as he speaks candidly, never coming across as self-indulgent, instead just painting pictures of the experiences that shaped the album. Witnessing someone speak with such raw vulnerability about the struggles they’ve faced is rare, and it’s almost a shame each time the talking stops and the music starts.

However, I did say almost. Off the back of every explanation comes the song that was born as a result of these trials and tribulations. They tell of the journey of a man brought back from the brink, of a man who didn’t think he needed help, of a man who almost lost his life to the troubles he was facing, and of a man who finally sought the help he needed to become the person standing before us tonight. Whilst not everyone here will have gone down the exact same path that Orville has, there’s no doubt that we’ll all have shared in at least one of the difficulties he’s faced, which is why they resonate so deeply with us all. After all, who hasn’t had their heart broken and had to go through the painful process of recovering from loss, however that may have manifested for us?

I know reviews are meant to be an overview of an evening, a snapshot here and there of what transpired, but it’s been hard not to go in depth with this one. Orville was so open with us; he shared intimate and scary details of his life and his struggles, that it seems to be a disservice not to share it with the world.

This truly was a special evening for any Orville Peck fan. He invited us into his world; he showed the man behind the mask (figuratively, not literally). Prior to walking into this room tonight, we all had our own interpretations of the songs and their meanings. Now, however, I’ve no doubt every person who was in the room tonight will never be able to hear the album in the same way again.

Live review and photography of Orville Peck @ O2 Kentish Town Forum, London by Emma Stone on 6th October 2026.

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