Alfie Templeton

Zigarettes opened the night with their mystical fusion of sound. The group are formed of musicians of varying backgrounds, from a jazz lover to a metal drummer, a combination that puzzles on paper but works effortlessly on stage. Their dreamy collection of shoegaze were a welcome addition to my burgeoning knowledge of Norwich’s talent; the group make this fusion seem weathered and traditional, with their parallels to Radiohead’s music making more sense with every listen.

SOFY’s ensemble was bright and energetic, like Alfie’s set to come, despite entering stage left to the Dance of the Knights, a brilliant ploy to instantly grasp the crowd’s attention. Despite standing relatively near the back, the band’s exuberance filled the space, beckoning audience members to come closer and join the swaying. SOFY had some devoted fans in the crowd too, with the singer gratefully pointing out some audience members at the front who were singing along to every word.

‘Wet Paint’ was a particular highlight of the set, with the lyric ‘is it taking it too far to hit your girlfriend with my car’ at the end of the middle eight drawing elated silence from the crowd before launching into the final chorus of the song. SOFY’s Instagram handle is @sofysounds, something which, along with some of the instrumentation in her music, reminded me of Bristol outfit Bad Sounds. With the addition of a trumpet to the live set, their vibrancy is on the same wavelength, like the Merritt brothers made indie pop music with Lily Allen on vocals, with the same level of cheek and ambition.

Alfie Templeman’s arrival on stage came with literal screams, something which I hadn’t anticipated. The young artist has a strong following in Norwich, and the fans wanted to make sure he knew as much, yelling between songs and demanding his attention. The singer was very relaxed and confident in his delivery of his multicoloured tracks, launching right in with classic ‘3D Feelings’ that had everyone up and dancing. Templeman had a lot of time for the crowd, laughing and telling jokes in between each song. A particularly lovely attention to detail came in his song ‘Beckham’, where he names different London boroughs, as Templeman revealed afterwards that he had attempted to incorporate Hunstanton, Holt, Mundesley and other Norfolk locations into the lyrics. These were even sweetly written on the bottom of his setlist to show the audience he had indeed been doing his research before his big return to Norwich.

‘Wait, I Lied’ was a particular favourite of mine from the set, showcasing one of Templeman’s groovier riffs, with the live delivery being punchier than its recording. This is one thing to appreciate when watching Alfie Templeman live; his already-vibrant music is taken to another level when performed on stage by an ensemble who are clearly loving every second of what they’re doing, it is just infectious. Arguably however, the setlist did blend together at points; for those less devoted listeners the songs did start to sound the same after a while, but it would be reductive to make this a harsh criticism of the set. Templeman has a distinct sound, catering to a growing audience, a signature style that emulates the soulfulness of your youth, which widely appeals. Playing out with the classic ‘Happiness in Liquid Form’, I was glad I spent my Friday night dancing to Alfie Templeman; his music is undeniably cheerful and exactly what the audience needed at the end of this cold November’s week.