Alfie Templeman is one of those overnight successes that’s actually been a few years in the making. Even at the age of just 19, he’s been writing and recording since 2016, and his professional debut was released in 2018.
A few great EPs and a critically acclaimed ‘mini album’ – Forever Isn’t Long Enough – under his belt, we find the young singer-songwriter from Bedfordshire in the midst of his headline tour of the UK, starting in Newcastle and ending up in the legendary Shepherd’s Bush Empire before a trip around Europe to warm up for festival season.
Tonight is date 3 of the tour, and we’re at the sold out Brudenell Social Club in Leeds. It offers the crowd an up close experience with artists, creating a genuine connection between fans and performers. Recently hosting the likes of She Drew The Gun, Holly Humberstone, Sam Fender and the high-flying Yard Act, Templeman is in great company on this stage. And he didn’t look out of place.
The 17 song set opens with Shady, the first track from Forever Isn’t Long Enough, setting a chilled but quite funky tone, before kicking up a gear with Who I Am.
The set delivered a good mix of new and old, and in trademark Templeman fashion, spans genres effortlessly but always coherently.
While familiar radio favourites, 3D Feelings and Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody get the crowd bouncing, Alfie told me in conversation before the gig that he’s prouder of some of the album tracks which reflect his influences and preferences more closely.
Having started out as a Buddy Rich-style jazz drummer, ending up in front of the mic wasn’t always in his plans, but you can clearly see how the razor-sharp, tight control of rhythm and timing, honed behind the kit, informs tracks like Candy Floss and Wait, I Lied.
It’s the skill with which Alfie and his band (made up of Cam Owden on bass, Jos Shepherd on guitar and Adam Philip on drums) move between these styles that keeps the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout.
There are some brilliant impromptu moments, including a rendition of Happy Birthday to an eternally grateful fan, and a seamless segue into Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, which sends the crowd into overdrive.
A few songs in, and we hear perhaps the standout track from last year’s mini-album, Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody, with its uplifting drum beat backbone, before we hear some new music. Mellow Moon, the title track from the upcoming album (expected to drop at the end of May on Chess Club) is lapped up by an audience as eager to hear the new material as they are their favourite tracks.
3D Feelings wraps the main part of the set, to an electrified reaction, before a 3 song encore culminates in a frenetic charge through Happiness in Liquid Form. The Chic-esque guitar riffs are delivered with much more energy in the live arrangement compared to the record, with Alfie leaping into, and then above, the crowd, carried triumphantly back to the stage.
There is already an adoring – and growing – core of fans, and it won’t be long before we’re seeing him on much bigger stages as his star continues to rise. For those fans, to paraphrase one of his songs, forever may never be long enough to spend in the company of Alfie Templeman
Set List
Shady
Who I Am
Stop Thinking
Candyfloss
Film Scene Daydream
Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody
Mellow Moon
Leaving Today
Like An Animal
Circles
Colour Me Blue
Wait I Lied
Obvious Guy
3D Feelings
Encore
Broken
Happiness in Liquid Form
Support on this leg of the tour came from L’objectif and Pixey.
L’objectif, the Leeds based 4 piece, kicked off proceedings with a strong set. Drawing the crowd in with their local creds, and driving Foals-style tunes, they smashed out a 7 song set which had the crowd bouncing. You can hear throughout the Stone Roses and Arctic Monkeys influences in Saul Kane’s vocal delivery, but fused with their own funk / post punk style, this band are the real deal.
The closer, Drive in Mind, fired everyone up and saw Ezra Glennon (bass and vocal) deep in the impromptu mosh pit, while Louis Bullock’s driving drum beat and Dan Richardson’s urgent guitar riff took the crowd to the next level.
As good an opening act as I’ve seen in a long time, catch them headlining at The Mechanics in Wakefield later in the month, supporting Everything Everything and then in the summer at Live at Leeds in the Park at Temple Newsam.
Liverpool singer-songwriter-producer Pixey, opened her set with Sunshine State (from the Oct 2021 EP of the same name) a euphoric indie-pop tour de force, and maintains the vibrant energy in the room. There’s a dancy, high energy pop sensibility in Pixey’s creations, and it’s delivered with polished charm and an infectious presence. She clearly relishes the up-close intimacy of Brudenell, and her enjoyment transfers easily to the audience.
Closing it out with the title track from March 21’s Free to Live in Colour EP and the dancy Just Move, there’s a restless energy that sets things up nicely for the headliner’s arrival.
