Taking to the stage in Camden, Nashville-based singer-songwriter and Gen Z crooner Stephen Sanchez called last night’s gig his “first proper show in London.” Technically, that’s not quite true, but it’s certainly his biggest to date. Last June, he headlined London Bridge’s intimate venue Omeara, performing for around 320 punters. But that was a week before Glastonbury changed everything. On the final day of the festival, he was among a handful of special guests invited on stage with Elton John at his last ever UK show –arguably the moment that propelled him to the mainstream.
With a growing fanbase, (Sanchez boasts an almighty 2.2 million TikTok followers, along with 1.4 million instagram followers) the jump to the far bigger Koko, and a higher production value to match, only makes sense. Plus, he now has a full debut album, Angel Face, to play.
Accordingly, Sanchez opened his Koko gig with Something About Her, a loving ballad from that record that showcases his vocal ability and flair for retro sounds. From here, it was straight onto fan favourite Evangeline, much to the delight of his ardent audience.
Sanchez’s fanbase seems to be diverse. Although he has plenty of Gen Z fans, who no doubt know him from the viral success of Until I Found You, which blew up on TikTok last year (and now has more than 900 million streams on Spotify), there were plenty of baby boomers in the crowd too, perhaps there for the nostalgia factor.
The 21-year-old singer’s affinity for the late 1950s and early 1960s is apparent, and made plain by his stylised outfit and several tracks that serve as pastiches of the era.
Fast-paced single Shake evokes Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode, while Sanchez’s fondness for falsetto in Only Girl seems to point to Franki Valli. At Koko, the singer even broke up tracks from his debut album with a cover of Roy Orbison’s classic warbler Oh, Pretty Woman.
While the way he plays his swaggering alter ego Troubador Sanchez is undoubtedly slick, the highly-concept narrative of the album (a bard who falls in love with a mob boss’s wife, and ends up meeting a grisly and murderous end) fell somewhat flat on stage.
Sanchez paused between songs to tell the crowd the tale of a love triangle between the troubadour, his love interest Evangeline, and her partner Hunter. It didn’t always work, particularly when the singer dropped to the ground, feigning death, and leaving the crowd in the dark.
While I admire the theatricality, these brief interludes gave the gig a stop-start tempo, rather than flowing as a seamless narrative.
Though his true personality got fewer chances to shine through, the glimpses we saw suggest Sanchez is a cheeky, charming character who feels very at home in front of a crowd of adoring fans. But there is no doubt that Sanchez has a remarkable voice, a few bangers (the sultry High and singalong track Be More are firm favourites), and charisma to boot.
Hopefully, he drops his alter ego for his next tour and lets us see behind the mask, because the crowd will surely love him for it.
