Weâve been reviewing and photographing shows at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town since the 1980s, so we can say with a certain amount of confidence and flair that itâs exactly the right space for a Morgan Wade performance.
A beautiful Art Deco building with a rich history and impressive architecture â big enough to feel like youâve made it, yet small enough to feel personal, intimate, and close. Itâs always good to rock up early â and we did.
The excitement was feverish. Morgan Wadeâs ever-growing fan base snaked behind the Forum, past the stage door, into the freshly rendered hipster workspaces beyond.
Wade played two nights at The Garage back in 2021 â her first sell-out gig, as she later tells us â and we at 1st 3 Magazine made a rare and deliberate effort to be there. Weâd felt the spark before weâd even seen her live. Like so many others, we werenât about to miss the moment it all began.
The wordâs out. Everyone is here.
This is sentimental storytelling at its finest"
Sammy Harrison is out first â soft, insistent fingerpicking, poignant and tender, with a warm, versatile voice that stretches comfortably across several octaves. He builds a strong connection with the growing crowd as emotive lyrics meet crunchy suspended chords, and that rapport swirls, then multiplies. This is sentimental storytelling at its finest â including a song for his mate Joe, who bought him that first guitar. Harrisonâs powerful voice contrasts deliciously with his emotional literacy, setting the tone for tonightâs acoustic soul-nudging.
A voice thatâs straight, strong, and true."
Karley Scott Collins is a captivating presence. Backstage, we learn sheâs got a thing for pizza â though where those cheesy calories go is anyoneâs guess. On stage, she tells us itâs her second time in London, calling it âher favourite city in the world.â Her smoky, sultry vocals light up the O2 from the very first note of Hands on the Wheel â a voice thatâs straight, strong, and true.
Thereâs vulnerability too â especially on American Boy, with its delicate guitar threads. Her songs rest on sturdy melodies and graceful bones. Collins mesmerises with a cocktail of sharp lyrics, soft harmonies, and raw emotional honesty. She sings like she means it. You can hear every inch of heartache and hope in Quit You and Heavy Metal, a standout track about a wedding ring that weighs a girl down.
Thereâs a natural break as the stage is reset â clearly for an acoustic performance â with stools and guitars arranged closely across the sizeable platform. Fifteen photographers jostle for pole position in the pit, anticipation simmering as the O2 crowd senses something special coming.
Thereâs a âgirl next doorâ thing going on... until she opens her mouth."
And then, here she is â tiny Morgan Wade with that great big voice â taking her seat between guitarist Clint Wells and keys player Tyler James. Her famously inked frame is tucked under a T-shirt and jeans. Thereâs a âgirl next doorâ thing going on… until she opens her mouth.
Because itâs that voice, you see. That unmistakable voice. A voice once dismissed as âweirdâ when she failed the school choir audition â now carrying clarity, soul, and weathered wisdom. Shades and shimmer wrap her honeyed voice in silk â smooth, strange, and utterly gorgeous.
The trio merges effortlessly â Wells and James letting Wade shine"
It knocks us flat. Buries us in the feels. Every. Damn. Time."
The trio merges effortlessly â Wells and James letting Wade shine, while delivering masterful accompaniment of their own. From the first notes of Matches and Metaphors, conviction and intensity shape every phrase, every pause. The crowd is locked in from moment one.
Thereâs a hypnotic balance between them. Take Me Away â heard a hundred times, maybe more â still lands fresh, raw, and tender as the first time. It knocks us flat. Buries us in the feels. Every. Damn. Time.
This stripped-down setup suits Wade perfectly. Sheâs simply herself up there: diminutive but fierce, vulnerable but steely, scarred but standing tall. Between songs, she chats â tells stories, cracks jokes, shares bruises and breakthroughs, all while laying bare the architecture of her songs.
Morgan pulls the marrow from the bone. These songs are stripped, searing and realâ unmistakably her. The acoustic style peels back everything but the truth: strong melodies, raw stories, gut-wrenching lyrics. They lift the weight without needing gloss. Run and 2 A.M. in London â in these stripped-back forms â haunt in the best kind of way, like being let in on something never meant to be shared.
A voice, a guitar, a truth â Morgan Wade, taking care of business like only she can."
By the finale â Wilder Days â the grit hits, the heartbreak hits harder. The crowd sings with furious emotional urgency, a shared catharsis erupting before it all ends, far too soon. The Forum walls seem to vibrate with warmth and wildness, echoing the unspoken truth: weâve just witnessed something rare.
Just like those early Garage shows, this was legendary. Another pivot. Another blaze lit.
A voice, a guitar, a truth â Morgan Wade, taking care of business like only she can.
Morgan Wade played the O2 Forum, Kentish Town
25th March 2025
Support from Sammy Harrison and Karley Scott Collins
