I watched Joshua Bassett on the 9th May 2023 at the O2 Forum Kentish Town. It was his first, and was meant to be the only, night of his UK tour but due to the overwhelming demand he decided to add a second night as well.
He played a total of 18 songs across a 90 minute set and he was full of energy throughout the night. Joshua started the night strong by jumping on stage – and that’s not an expression, he fully jumped on stage.
After the first 3 songs, it may just be my age talking, but I needed a nap from watching him jump around the stage so much. It reminded me of the exercise classes with trampolines. The crowd were even mirroring his jumping around, it was brilliant to watch.
Joshua gained popularity for his role as Ricky Bowen in the Disney+ original series High School Musical: The Series. He is very proud of the fact that he’s had the opportunity to write the songs that are in the shows, playing them and citing how special they are to him.
And he has a die-hard fan base. I’ve never heard songs screamed in such perfect unison with so much intent before. There were no slip-ups by anyone in the crowd, and if you did slip up then you might have been thrown out by the fans for that level of blasphemy.
It’s apparent how infatuated his fans are with him and how infatuated Joshua is with them. The stage had a platform whereby he could easily get to his fans while singing.
He certainly made a lot of dreams come true that night! He spent a lot of time moving around the stage and the pit in between the stage and the barrier and on top of that, he even moved around the venue too.
One of the supporting acts was Jenna Raine, she had such a wonderful vibe about herself. It was a very simple set up that worked really well for a solo singer-songwriter on stage, and just an electric guitar. I really loved her song Crickets.
It encapsulated that feeling of wishing you could take back words you have said. She rounded off her set by telling the crowd she was ordering a Nandos the second she got off stage – the woman is one after our own hearts.
The second support act was Stacey Ryan, Canadian singer songwriter. She had a very simple set up on stage with a guitar and piano, switching between the two as she played.
I loved her cover of “American Boy”, highlighting that Stacey really knew how to connect with the crowd. – Stacey Ryan is heading her very own show on 5th July in London, make sure to get tickets so you don’t miss out.
I personally feel like these were perfect support choices for Joshua, having two female support acts who are both singer songwriters and who both really fitted the vibe of the show – love and heartbreak and pains of growing up.
Overall the show was executed very well and all fitted very nicely together with the performances providing a night of entertainment and enjoyment for all fans.
Words + photography by Cydnee Brook
