Reneé Rapp at Kentish Town Forum

Singer, actress and Broadway star Reneé Rapp might not be a household name yet, but just try telling that to her legion of dedicated fans. Her first London show, just two months after the release of her debut EP, sold out so quickly it was upgraded twice. Impressive for a concert announced just a week in advance.

Forgoing a support act, the concert opens with a playback version of EP intro Everything to Everyone amidst a backdrop of dazzling lights. The crowd erupts as the singer then takes to the stage, launching straight into up-tempo track Moon.

There is something extremely likeable about the American songstress (unmistakable vocal talent aside). With just nine songs in her repertoire, Rapp fills in the gaps with a familiar rapport with her adoring audience, many of whom have attended with signs and gifts made especially. There is a sense that this show is hugely overdue – remarkable for an artist who has only been putting music out since mid 2022. Between the moments of tenderness are jokes, Gen Z references and TikTok memes that may escape older audience members. But that’s okay: Rapp knows her demographic and she’s happy to cater for them. There is nothing ostentatious about the singer; instead she takes a refreshingly honest and human approach to her fame. She is just 23, after all, and yet already a leader for a generation who see themselves in her lyricism.

This is perhaps most apparent during Tattoos, Rapp’s first musical offering that was originally teased via TikTok and “made the right people pay attention”. A fan project turns the standing area into a sea of signs declaring sentiments such as “We are so proud of you’. It might be Rapp’s first time in Europe but it couldn’t possibly be the last. The amount of passion and mutual adoration in the room is palpable. Before each song are deafening screams, while each chorus evokes a singalong so loud it threatens to drown out the very musician these fans have paid to see. Even unreleased track Bruises has the audience harmonising along word for word.

Highlights include the stripped-back What Can I Do, pre-empted as Rapp’s first “openly queer song” and the soul-bearing In the Kitchen, the “most Reneé song yet”. With a longer set, anecdotes about each track’s origin may feel tiresome but here it adds a layer of meaning, though it would perhaps be appreciated more in a smaller room, as distractions and chatter in the crowd risk spoiling the sentiment.

Reneé Rapp may just be the biggest pop star most people have never heard of. While at times her set calls more for the intimacy of a venue like Lafayette (the original setting for this show) it is an impressive feat to hold a sold-out Kentish Town Forum in your hands so early in a career. Many will never quite forget tonight, and will be eagerly awaiting the next.

Katherine Parry
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Reneé Rapp’s website here.

Watch the video for the single In the Kitchen here: