The crowd got low to the floor with budding anticipation as the performer was almost lying off the stage inches away from the audience, on his cue “three, two, one!” we exploded with the song and warm disco lights, dancing like a teenage dream.
November 9th Thomas Headon and Alfie Templeman performed at the Cornerstone in Berkeley for their double headliner “2 British Friends 1 United States” tour.
After a vibrant performance of his first song, Headon introduces himself to the audience in the endearing name, age, where he’s from like a “nice to meet you” way on the first day of school.
He swiftly went into his next song with the small crowd easing into the indie rock sound, as Headon rocked out, going so hard to use his inhaler in an effortlessly cool way.
Throughout the night both Headon and Templeman kept the audience on our toes and guided us through enjoying the show.
Performing the bittersweet song Butterflies Headon jumped into the crowd hugging an audience member and telling everyone to hug the person they came with and say I love you to them.
By far his best song heard live was the unreleased I loved a boy, with an instrumental that felt like you were floating. From guitarist Lorenzo Taddei and drummer Gerry Morgan along with red and blue lights gliding across the room, it gave the audience the movie moment of jumping up with the song.
As we catch our breath we hear the familiar song of our favorite rockstar Hannah Montana and go into a frenze on the dance floor. Concluding his set with electric “Urban Angel 1999” bouncing around on stage, the crowd screamed and moved as they sang along.
When re-staging and placing set lists down, Templeman, bandmates, and crew chit-chatted with fans. Going straight into the set Templeman performed Candyfloss as the audience grooved to the blissful sound with the room doused in colorful red and blue light.
Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody’s cozy sound beautifully flowed through the crowd with purple strobing and white disco ball lights filling the venue.
The main attraction of the set was the bassist Cam Owden and guitarist Jos Shepherd who stole the show as they shredded on instruments toward each other while putting their whole bodies into the performance.
As fans eagerly sneaked a peak at the setlist placed earlier, Templeman revealed it’s not being real to mess with the crowd.
The set got the crowd to groove to songs like unreleased Eyes Wide Shut’s sharp funky sound to moshing to his intoxicating hit “movies”.
Finishing the show the band gave away drumsticks and picks to excited fans and at the merch booth crew informed us of an informal meet and greet outside where artists took photos, signed posters, and hung out with the crowd.
For fans of Headon and Templeman, the way they work with the crowd and the sound brought to the songs performed with a band has a richer sound than recordings. This was the best show I’ve ever seen for the authentic talent brought by the artist, and the intimate venue. Though there were technical issues noticed by the artists, they glided right through it.
If you are going to The Cornerstone there’s parking a block away if you can’t find it on the street and it’s located in a safe area within walking distance from UC Berkeley.
The bassist, Owden, said it may not have been the best show we played but we had the most fun tonight. Templeman said “Mate it was incredible. It was very very fun, best crowd so far. It was awesome, really really enjoyed it.”
Written by Monica Shannon
I really enjoyed this post and how you went into detail throughout the entirety of the show! It really helped imagine what it was like to be there, and made me interested in seeing these performers in the future. I also liked how you quoted the performers, making it more personable. Great post!