A REMARKABLE NIGHT WITH KELE OKEREKE (AND HIS MANY GUITAR PEDALS)

LIVE REVIEW | KELE OKEREKE | LONDON EARTH 20th February 2025 by Kimmi Naidoo

As the lead singer of one of the UK’s most influential indie bands (Bloc Party), it comes as no surprise that Kele Okereke has a remarkable talent but his ability to transfer his distinctive voice into a sound completely different is the true gift. This UK tour in support of his latest album, The Singing Winds Pt 3 marks Kele’s first solo shows in eight years and covers his fifteen year career in its entirety.

From the moment Kele steps onto the stage at Earth Theatre in East London, the entire room’s eyes are glued to him. Opening the set with the first track, ‘It Wasn’t Meant To Be’ from the new album, there’s no flashy costumes or gimmicks, just a display of music that has been written with heart and soul. As the set progresses, there is a level of unanimous admiration among the crowd, in a rare case where the entire crowd is seated, it’s one of the most polite audiences I’ve ever experienced, there’s the usual clapping and cheering but as soon as Kele starts a song there is no heckling or talking and an almost stunned silence as everyone just watches in amazement.

It’s by no means a perfect set for Kele with a few minor hiccups, which given that he uses possibly the most pedals I’ve ever seen one person use and controls them all himself is not necessarily a bad thing, if anything it reminds the audience of how much he is able to do on his own. It’s quite an extraordinary sight to see Kele surrounded by pedal boards on each side with no mic stand, in the centre of this stage that spans the entire length of the theatre. Breaking his serious performance persona to address the audience, Kele’s natural charisma shines through, noting the cold of the venue and apologising for any sniffling the audience hears through the microphone which not only earns a few chuckles but warms the audience to the next few songs.

Roughly half way through the set it feels as though very little time has passed at all. Although the setlist narrows Kele’s seven album discography down into just fifteen songs, these tracks being played live back to back create an atmosphere where they almost combine with each other into one long piece of music that you could become fully absorbed in, proving that this set has been carefully curated. It’s also a testament to the level of technicality in Kele’s playing, that would sound so simple with a full band, but with one person and the help of some guitar pedals playing it all, is the most astounding audio and visual experience.

Leaving the stage for a brief moment, the audience doesn’t move an inch in anticipation of the inevitable encore and Kele returns to a triumphant applause. He states the last few songs will be “a slightly different flavour” before a technical difficulty with a pedal leads him to quip “drastic times call for drastic measures- I’m unplugging it and plugging it back in”. Beginning the encore with ‘Yemaya’ and following with ‘Cradle You’, the tone is more tender and displays Kele’s voice in all its glory, before finishing the set with ‘Rise’ from his debut album and leaving the audience in awe of what they’ve experienced for the past hour and a half.