817 days ago, in a different timeline, Spiritbox would have made their London debut as opening support on After The Burial‘s UK and EU tour. The tour only lasting a few dates saw the debut of now fan-favourite, “Holy Roller“, under the demo title “Holy Moley“. What has happened since has been well documented, and has now led to Spiritbox headlining the O2 Academy Islington over two nights.
The first act joining Spiritbox on these two shows and opening both nights were Hertfordshire’s VEXED, propelled onto the line-up by a wave of support within Spiritbox‘s Patreon-member Discord server. The quartet, donning new stage gear and a revised setlist from their recent tour supporting In Flames, would have more than made an impact to newcomers. Book-ended with violence invoking breakdowns in “Hideous” and “Fake“, the middle of the room became a swirling pit of limbs. Tracks “Aurora” and “Lazarus” saw their live debuts at the O2, with VEXED putting on an emotive performance on the former. With this dynamic spread of tracks, VEXED showcased Megan Targett‘s incredible vocal range.
The show didn’t let up, with Static Dress opening with their furious track, “Disposable Care“. While many in the room may have been seeing VEXED live for the first time, Static Dress have been performing up and down the country on numerous tours over the past year, with their most recent performance in London being last week at the Heavy Music Awards. Live staples “Safeword” and “sweet.” once again made an appearance, performed accurately as ever by the true breakout UK act. It could be argued that Static Dress missed a trick by dedicating track “Dis-inTer” to Spiritbox, rather than heavy cut “Courtney, Just Relax“, sorely missing an opportunity for clever wordplay. Closing out with “Clean“, the ever-present chants of the tracks final moments “let it go” rang out among the Static Dress fans present.
With opening track “Circle With Me“, the 817 days of long waiting for Spiritbox to make their debut were over. A crowd still not shorting on energy put the work in singing, shouting and moving along to the 13-track setlist. For such an energy to be seen in a near 1000-cap venue is remarkable in itself. Heavy moments in “Yellowjacket” and “Hurt You” ensured the opening moments weren’t going to be slow, with stand-in bassist Josh Gilbert (ex-As I Lay Dying) doing a fitting job vocally on “Yellowjacket“.
Moving into “Constance“, and the initial adrenaline wearing off, the track still holds its emotional potency to move vocalist LaPlante. LaPlante has more than demonstrated why she is widely considered one the top vocalists in the genre, putting on a beautiful performance for the touching and heart-wrenching track. The ability to perform the beautiful vocal harmonies in the aforementioned cut, then unsheathe the eyebrow-raising witch screams found later on “Mara Effect Pt.3” showcases her exceptional range and live performance ability.
The journey for Spiritbox to make their debut in London has been a long and testing one, one that potentially other bands may have called it a day over. The headliner has shown the dividends of Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer‘s resilience and self-belief to get them deservedly where they are today. From a wider perspective, all three bands on the ticket; VEXED, Static Dress and Spiritbox, have all only released their debut full-length records in the past 12 months or so. Perhaps in days and years to come, when these three bands have rich and accomplished careers, we may only be able to fully realise how lucky we were to see such an outstanding line-up, all in one place at one time.