Stereophonics @ Finsbury Park

Finsbury Park Festivals

Festival Republic's takeover of Finsbury Park is always a fan favourite when festival season comes along, with huge names like The 1975 and Hozier headlining in recent years. The 2025 bill is equally sensational, with Fontaines D.C. headlining a Saturday full of music, followed by a heavy Sunday headlined by rock legends Slayer. However, it was Welsh icons Stereophonics who received the honour of headlining this year's opening night, bringing with them a capacity crowd and the scorching sunlight.

Before Friday night's headliners took to the stage, all in attendance were treated to a trio of special acts to get them warmed up. The day was kicked off by a DJ set from Radio X's John Kennedy, who delivered a crowd-pleasing set full of all the indie and alt-rock bangers you could ever want. He was then followed by one of the UK's best-kept secrets, the stellar singer-songwriter Finn Forster, who, backed by his band, would get the crowd up and dancing early on.

The penultimate act before Stereophonics took to the stage were the night's special guests, Blossoms. The Stockport five-piece have long been a staple of the festival scene, with their unique brand of upbeat indie always going down a treat in the (admittedly rare) sun. However, since the release of their fifth studio album 'Gary', Blossoms have reached a whole new level of stature and feel more than ready to be headlining nights like this, making their presence alongside Stereophonics even more special.

Their set was everything I'd hoped for, feel-good indie music that you couldn't help but smile along to, topped off with a special guest appearance from Gary, a giant fibreglass gorilla and the namesake of the band's new album. Tracks like 'Charlemagne' and 'Honey Sweet' have been essential summer listening for nearly a decade now, and the addition of new tracks like 'Nightclub' and 'I Like Your Look' has only strengthened their already impressive setlist. But for me, the biggest change in the band since I last saw them was how much lead singer Tom Ogden's stage presence has evolved. Vocally and lyrically, Ogden has always been captivating. However, the swagger he commands a stage with now puts him up there with one of the best frontmen on the UK indie scene.

Stereophonics

With the crowd well and truly warmed up, both by the rousing support acts and the suspicious London sun, it was time for the main event, as Stereophonics pridefully took to the stage ripping into a pyro-backed version of 'Vegas Two Times'. Lead vocalist Kelly Jones' was as blissfully raspy as ever, serenading Finsbury Park with that distinctive vocal tone that breaths so much live into Stereophonics' music. This was swiftly followed by the summer anthem 'I Wanna Get Lost With You', an upbeat guitar-driven track that allows guitarist Adam Zindani and co-founding member Richard Jones' bass guitar to rise to the forefront. If 'Vegas Two Times' served to introduce the band to the audience, then 'I Wanna Get Lost With You' more than introduced the night's crowd to those on stage. This was one of the evening's first big singalongs, which seemed to get louder with each one that passed.

The beauty of this current Stereophonics tour is that the hits really are at the forefront, offering a genuine career-spanning setlist that covered eleven of the band's thirteen studio albums, featuring everything from their first commercial single 'Local Boy in the Photograph' to tracks like 'Seems Like You Don't Know Me' from most recent record 'Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Cry, Make 'em Wait'. No matter the era tackled, the six musicians mastered their way through it flawlessly, sounding near-perfect to their studio recordings, but with the raw charm that only live music can offer.

Whilst their entire summer tour has been about celebrating the longevity Stereophonics' music has had, there was something a little more special about this show in particular, due to a full-circle moment for Kelly Jones. Before playing the band's classic hit 'Have a Nice Day', Jones would take a moment to tell the audience about his experience watching Neil Young and Pearl Jam on the very same field over 30 years ago. It was during that gig that Kelly would say to himself "one day I'm going to play here", and last night allowed that career goal to finally come true. A heartwarming moment that was responded to in an extremely wholesome fashion by the sold-out crowd.

As the night progressed the hits got bigger, the crowd got louder, and more band members had their chance tonshine in the spotlight. 2017's 'Geronimo' gave touring musician Gavin Fitzjohn a chance to flex his saxophonist skills during a blitzing solo, which would be further backed up by a Kelly Jones guitar solo, before 'Mr and Mrs Smith' gave Jamie Morrison the chance to unleash an explosive drum solo. The crowd more than played their part throughout the bulk of the night too, with the choir like singalong to 'Maybe Tomorrow' being one of the loudest I have heard this summer.

The main set was brought to an end by a high-velocity duo of hits, 'C'est la vie' and 'The Bartender And The Thief', turning the entirety of Finsbury Park into one giant dancefloor, led by one of the most essential bands of the last 30 years. There could not have been a more perfect close to the main portion of the night, but those keeping a keen eye on the songs played would have realised there were still far too many big hitters to go for a normal encore to cover. Luckily, this was no normal encore.

With the crowd still buzzing from the electric energy of the main set, a brief pause allowed a moment of calm, until Kelly Jones reappeared, alone, armed only with his acoustic guitar, ready to guide the night into its final chapter. With the set-up providing the ideal foundation to showcase the emotive rawness of both his lyrics and vocals, Jones would first lead singalongs to 'Step on My Old Size Nines' and the band's infamous cover of Mike d'Abo's 'Handbags and Gladrags'. The trio of acoustic songs would then be completed by a powerful rendition of Traffic, before the rest of the band would return to the stage to finish the song off. With all six musicians reconvening again under the stage lights for a final flourish, Finsbury Park would be treated to two more songs, each carrying the weight of a thousand memories. A riotous version of 'A Thousand Trees' came first, igniting the crowd once more, before 'Dakota' brought the night to a close in truly euphoric fashion, met with some of the most deafening audience responses the park is ever likely to witness.

For a band who has been around for as many years as Stereophonics have, it would become so easy to rely on nostalgia or name to sell tickets, but there was no sign of that last night. Every single musician on stage poured their heart and soul into their performance, feeding off one another with the energy and cohesion of a finely tuned musical machine. This was a mammoth set fuelled by a passion for live music, and the lifelong memories it can create. Stereophonics have long solidified them as one of the best bands of this generation, but the longer they perform like this, the more they will begin to shift into all-time conversations.