Kevin Atwater is a rising singer/songwriter who hails from Chicago, US. Despite some darker, more melancholic theming, Atwater’s Alternative/ Folk music is dreamy, hypnotic and rather therapeutic.

His current album Achilles is a magical, mystical masterpiece from start to finish with a beautiful flow throughout the albums track listing. Achillies is the kind of album that you want to listen to over and over again because at times, you’ll just want to get lost in the melodies and then you’ll want to take a deeper dive into the songs lyrics. With each song having such depth, it makes every listen feel like the first time which is wonderfully rare in music.

I was very excited to see Atwater supporting Noah Kahan at BST Hyde Park and experience how Atwater’s music would translate in a live setting. Playing on the Birdcage Stage, (which mimics a bandstand), this felt like a rare intimate moment.

“My name is Kevin Atwater and I’m going to play some gay songs for you” greeted Kevin. A full band, Atwater began with Jamie’s Daydreams, and it was apparent there were many Atwater fans in the audience.

“This is crazy, I have never played outside before” laughed Kevin “what’s that in my hair? Oh it’s the wind”.

Plugging his current album Achilles, he explains how someone told him the statue of Achillies is located in Hyde Park and it was fate he was playing today in the same place. Introducing the next song as “letting someone treat you like s**t” he played lonely gift. “ If that song was my “hey you can hurt me” he says after the song, “this is my you can’t hurt me as I’m gonna kill you song” and he went on to perform the cage.

A fan shouted for him to play his song Freckles. Happily surprised he says “I love you, I’m not gonna play it but I love you!”. After telling a Knock, Knock joke, we were treated with the story behind his song Why Did You Invite Me To Your Wedding? The song is accompanied by a short film which is worth checking out.

Playing the title track to his album he then is informed he has four minutes left and tells us a brief story behind his song Star Trippin’ before playing the song. Star Trippin’ is basically a game where a person gets spun around by other people while looking up at a star. After about 30 seconds have passed, the person will instantly be knocked over when a flashlight is shone at their face.

Saldly Atwater was only on stage for around 30 minutes and I am sure most of the crowd would agree with me that we could have stayed for so much more! Kevin Atwater is one of favourite new finds and I have to thank BST Hyde Park and Noah Kahan for that. There’s so much to love about Kevin Atwater and I hope he returns to the UK soon and if he is to come back to BST Hyde Park, that he be on a bigger stage which he deserves.

Kevin Atwater is a captivating performer who has a natural ability to warm up a crowd with his hilarious and down to earth personality. He can make his audience sing along to every word and then completely mesmerise them by his music making them fall completely silent fully immersed in the moment. One of the most powerful performances of the day, we long for a headline show in the not too distant future.