Live Review: Circa Waves - O2 Brixton Academy, London 26/02/2025
Circa Waves ride the crest of their success at Brixton.
Bringing their blend of psychedelia soaked indie pop as main support for Circa Waves on their landmark Brixton Academy headline show, Peace have earnt their place here. Their second song ‘Shiver’ builds on their heavy guitar momentum.
Their Foals- esque groove with a dirgey edge creates an immense sound which clearly translates well with the young crowd tonight.
The scratching, primal guitars fade into a bluesy solo, and really get the crowd bopping.
Their penultimate song off the new record with the lyric ‘I got blue jeans on’ has an irresistible indie dance vibe that really sets a tone for headliners Circa Waves. The climax to the song is magnificent, highlighting the band’s deft ability to make dramatic tempo changes seem erratic yet effortless as they theatrically climb and play on the amps with sheer confidence to close their formidable set.
Circa Waves open with their recent crowd pleasing indie pop bopper ‘Do You Wanna Talk?’, with its devastingly catchy chorus repeating its title, lead singer Kieran emphatically wailing and rallying the crowd with his natural scouse bravado. They have a swagger in their sound tonight, their second song driven by a dense bass and the poetic lyric ‘Just when I thought I had something interesting to say, I’m ok’ striking a chord. In a truly humble exchange with the lively crowd, an emotional Keiran addresses his adoring fans: “Brixton academy - it’s been a long time it’s great to see you again!”. In ‘Movies’, he sings the beautifully nostalgic line ‘They don’t dress like in the movies’, the simple sentiment seeming to ring true in today’s culture.
The lyrics ‘Wait wait wait- kill me now, like what you did before, I want you, I want you, I want you for myself’ from ‘Like We Did Before’ bare the soul of a singer who is nothing if not honest, packing a raw emotional punch to give their pop sound a a deeper layer of maturity. This highlights the fact they are a band not just destined to fill indie dance floors, with a rich career surely lying ahead of them.
‘Sorry I’m Yours’ gets a rapturous response as Kieran processes the sheer scale of the occasion: “We’ve still got two more shows but this kind of feels like something big for us!” As the magnitude of the occasion of headlining Brixton hits home, it’s clear tonight that they are not fazed buy it but simply embracing every second of the glory they’ve grafted so hard for to get here.
In a truly candid interview on their latest album last year, Kieran revealed with heart aching honesty: “I thought I might die before I made this record,” Shuddall told NME, “and then I didn’t, and I got to make an album of music that I loved. The shackles were off, in a way, because I had this newfound joy and excitement for being alive.”
Off the back of a main support slot with The Black Keys at the O2 Arena and now here they are more than worthy headline heroes, their momentum is surely unstoppable.
Words by Brendan Sharp
