Extreme Offer Far More Than Words At O2 Forum Kentish Town

Extreme have not had a quiet 2023. In June they released Six, their first studio album in 15 years. And, since August, they’ve played 50-something shows on a world tour that’s already taken them as far afield as Japan and Australia. So, at their final gig of the year, the band have every right to be tired. They’re not. At all. 

If anything, the men on stage at O2 Forum Kentish Town are even more into it than usual, fully embracing Nuno Bettencourt‘s description of tonight as the end of tour party. At the end of the night all four members even come out to interact with the crowd some more; while the garrulous guitarist and the tireless singer Gary Cherone come down to the barrier for fist bumps and high fives, Pat Badger throws handfuls of his bass guitar picks into the crowd and Kevin Figueiredo hands out set lists and his drum sticks.

Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum

Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum (Catherine Beltramini Photography)
Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum (Catherine Beltramini Photography)

This is even after a two-hour, curfew-busting show that, despite a few self-deprecating Bettencourt comments about their age, absolutely overflows with energy and engagement. Cherone runs, jumps, crouches, kneels, points, gestures, waves around his microphone stand like a conductor’s baton, climbs up onto a speaker stack, and at one point even slaps himself in the face, all the while belting out demanding, voice-busting songs like Decadence Dance and #Rebel or tongue-twisters Play With Me and Cupid’s Dead.

Bettencourt perhaps doesn’t spend as much time in a yoga studio as the seemingly elasticated singer, but doesn’t show any signs of the serious knee injury he suffered earlier this year as he bounds across the stage, pulls off guitar hero poses (some involving his middle finger), sings, and plays one inconceivable solo after another. (Even when watched in close-up through one of the many phone screens in the crowd, what his fingers do during the instrumental Flight Of The Wounded Bumblebee is inexplicable.)  

Badger’s less flashy but no less integral to the sound or performance — from the groove of It (‘s A Monster) and signature solo on Get The Funk Out to the harmony vocals that (with Bettencourt’s) lift epics like Rest In Peace, Song For Love, and Am I Ever Gonna Change. And while Figueiredo is less visible, the drummer’s certainly no wallflower. New all-out rockers like Thicker Than Blood and Banshee are the epitome of hard-hitting. Cupid’s Dead would be DOA without him. And the stripped back mini-set of Other Side Of The Rainbow and Hole Hearted allows for subtlety on a smaller kit at the front of the stage, while also bringing him closer to the rest of the band’s antics.

Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum

Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum (Catherine Beltramini Photography)
Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum (Catherine Beltramini Photography)

Despite the musical complexity and physical demands of these songs, the members of Extreme are clearly feeling playful. Whether it’s Cherone sharing his microphone with Bettencourt and/or Badger, the bassist reaching over to adjust the guitarist’s necklace or play his 4N Washburn, the joyous  snippets of We Will Rock You and Fat Bottomed Girls, Bettencourt joking how he’s asked Vernon Reed of thrilling support band Living Colour not to upstage him, or the singer being punched in the chest while holding the long note at the end of Take Us Alive, their sense of fun is infectious. Just look at the two 50-something men in the audience, clearly friends for decades, giddily reliving their teenage years as they play Bill & Ted-style air guitar every single time Bettencourt unleashes a solo. Or the two actual teenagers, headbanging and singing along as loudly to 1989’s Play With Me as this year’s Rise — while simultaneously posting clips to social media.

Unsurprisingly the strongest moment of connection between audience and band comes during More Than Words. Introduced by Bettencourt with a throwaway “This one’s all you”, it’s performed unplugged a la Mercury and May‘s Love Of My Life and turns into a mass singalong so loud and uplifting that, even after all these years, the singer and guitarist can’t hide their delight. Look around the sold out O2 Forum Kentish Town and it’s clear 2300 other people feel exactly the same.

  • Living Colour @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Living Colour @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Living Colour @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Living Colour @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum
  • Extreme @ Kentish Town Forum

Live review of Extreme live at O2 Forum Kentish Town on 19th December 2023 by Nils van der Linden. Photos by Catherine Beltramini Photography.

Call Me Amour @ O2 Institute Birmingham (Nick Allan)

CALL ME AMOUR Announce 2025 UK Tour Supporting Set It Off

UK four-piece CALL ME AMOUR have announced that they will be joining Set It Off as support on their EU and UK tour next year. They’ll be playing a run of eight UK shows beginning in February 2025 and finishing up in March 2025.

Iggy Pop @ Dog Day Afternoon (Pauline Di Silvestro)

Iggy Pop Announces Landmark Show At London’s Alexandra Palace For May 2025

Iggy Pop, the original icon of punk, has announced an unmissable live show at London’s Alexandra Palace on Wednesday, 28th May 2025. With a career spanning over five decades, Iggy Pop remains a vital force in music, bringing his fierce originality and boundary-pushing performances to this rare London date.

Sam Palladio Drops Single ‘Wake Me Up In Nashville’ In Honour Of World War II Veteran Grandfather

Acclaimed musician and actor Sam Palladio has released the video for his new single Wake Me Up In Nashville, taken from his recently released debut album The Perfect Summer’s Day, Before We Lost The Light. The delicate acoustic ballad honours Palladio’s late grandfather which he has written to detail a heartfelt love story the decorated World War II bomber pilot experienced while based in America for training. 

Modern Liv (Lola Dubas)

Modern Liv Shares Debut EP ‘Boy Band’

24-year-old east London artist Olivia Miller – AKA Modern Liv – puts her own distinct slant on the indie rock sad girl scene, bringing elements of jazz, soul and chanteuse elegance into the mix. It’s a style which makes her independently released debut EP Boy Band such an engaging listen – and one that demonstrates that she has everything in place to rise to bigger things in the near future.

Fiaa Hamilton (Press)

Fiaa Hamilton Presents A Halloween Horror With Video For ‘Boy Like You’

Fiaa Hamilton is in the middle of her ascension from TikTok LIVE’s Breakthrough Star award winner to next up pop sensation. Now her storytelling alt-pop takes a darker turn with the single Boy Like You, accompanied by a horror-tinged music video which is perfectly timed after Halloween last week.

Cody Johnson (Press)

Cody Johnson Releases Expanded Album: Leather – Deluxe Edition

Multi-Platinum-selling artist Cody Johnson has dropped his new studio project, Leather – Deluxe Edition. The deluxe album contains 13 brand new tracks and also includes all 12 songs from his Leather album released last November for a total of 25 songs.

Noah Kahan (Press)

BST Hyde Park 2025 Announces Fourth Headliner: Noah Kahan

American Express presents BST Hyde Park has announced another incredible headliner for 2025, record breaking folk-pop...
Brandon Boyd of Incubus @ Brixton Academy (Kalpesh Patel)

Incubus Announce Sole UK Show In Celebration Of Seminal 2001 LP Morning View

Following their highly successful sold-out 2024 US Arena tour, American rockers Incubus have announced they will perform their iconic Morning View album in its entirety plus the hits at London’s The O2 on Saturday 26 April 2025, their only UK and Ireland show.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing