The queue for Max McNown’s second sold-out night slithered around the corner of the iconic O2 Forum Kentish Town and off toward the back of beyond – a living thing, restless and expectant.
Inside, the Forum did what it does best. Intimate yet electric, the air already crackling with that anticipatory hum only a room full of believers can generate. Cowboy hats and boots appeared in clusters; smiles everywhere, happiness worn openly like a Texan sidearm. Everyone was waiting for the gold rush McNown keeps promising – and, let’s face it, keeps delivering.
Opening the night was Lily Fitts, stepping into the room with stripped-back songs and softly, sweetly sung stories that cut deeper than volume ever could. Her raw, honest vocals pierced straight through the noise of the world, carrying confessions of heartbreak, depression, self-doubt and hard-won resilience.
Emotional honesty poured out and she came alive on stage, moving through songs including Brown Eyed Baby, her dad’s favourite Troubled Water – an emotion-fuelled torrent of vulnerability – and Anxiety, a subject Lily knows intimately. She tells us it’s why she writes, and it shows; much of her work sits in the melancholy, lamentoso shadows. Yet there’s optimism there too. Maybe it’s the quiet steel in her tone, her directness, that sense of strength shining through the cracks. An emotive cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide sealed the deal. Like many many others, we’re watching Lily Fitts closely – her star is only just beginning to rise.
Like the moment when your old V-twin finally warms through, the Forum throbbed with post-performance heat as even more bodies squeezed into an already packed auditorium. The energy shifted up a gear. What began as quiet introspection and tender storytelling was about to be reset. A dramatic intro signalled the change – in the old Ed Sullivan sense of the phrase, this was going to be a big show.
Max McNown wasted no time. With a distinctly different dynamic, he strode onstage and immediately stuck his flag in and claimed it, his easy confidence and fluid comfort rippling right to the back of the room. From the opening number, those rich, grainy honey-and-whiskey tones – and that ever-present smile – pulled in the crowd and held them fast.
Amid a full-throated chorus of “Max! MAAAAX!” his warm, thrilling, deeply comforting voice sliced straight through the noise. Blending Americana, folk-rock, and country, McNown’s sound feels wide-open and ember-hot – anchored in classic storytelling yet pulsing with very modern urgency. He never stops moving, and the crowd can’t help but follow. There’s barely space to breathe, but heads still nod, toes still tap, and voices erupt at full volume.
The songs turn like pages in that well-worn, yes, slightly clichéd storybook – love, longing, self-discovery – carried on tight, propulsive acoustic rhythms and choruses that seem to rise and bloom to fill the Forum on their own. The guitar lines glide and curl, little melodic licks threading the space between McNown’s stripped-back vulnerability and the full band’s surging intensity. Each lift and swell pulls the crowd along, everyone rising and falling on the same shared current.
Between songs, McNown keeps everything grounded. He’s relaxed, personable, offering brief reflections that connect rather than distract – small flashes of himself that anchor the reverence hanging in the room. At one point he even steps down toward the barrier, closing the distance, letting the crowd feel the warmth of his presence up close; the room exhales in unison, drawn even deeper into his orbit. Each chorus returns stronger, voices swelling with renewed devotion. By the time the night reaches its final note, the Forum feels wholly and absolutely fully awake – charged, breathing, unmistakably alive.
Max McNown plays the room with real instinct, easing the pace just long enough for hearts to settle, then leaning back on the throttle and letting the energy bloom again.
The set becomes something cathartic, expansive, wholly communal. Everyone is freewheeling – leaning back and simply enjoying the ride, the band, the connection. With a final “Merry Christmas, London,” the end of this particular trip comes, as it always does, far too fast.
The family spills from the Forum’s comforting womb, blinking and grinning into the London night, reborn – uplifted and revived – carrying that quiet, electric thrill of witnessing something, someone, on the rise, and of having stood inside a moment built on honesty, sincerity, and a rare, genuine emotional connection.
Max McNown played at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London on 10 December 2025
Support from Lily Fitts
