Lord Huron at O2 Brixton – A Night of Stillness, Romance, and Transcendence

Daria Slikker
Sep 25
3 min read

O2 Brixton has always had a way of transforming into whatever world the artist chooses, and for Lord Huron, that world was dipped in purple light, romance, and a dreamlike sense of timelessness. The stage itself set the tone before a single note was played: a shimmering, silver, tinsel-looking curtain hung like the backdrop of a high-school prom, and a jukebox stood alone on the left side of the stage, waiting like a relic of memory. The effect was instantly cinematic.

The night opened with Dublin’s Pillow Queens, whose raw energy and rich harmonies provided a perfect foil to the headliner’s atmospheric storytelling. Then, as the house lights dimmed and the hush swept over the sold-out crowd, Lord Huron took the stage. Lead vocalist, Ben Schneider, whose voice was impossibly smooth and golden, carried through the room with the same warmth and clarity as their recordings – rarely can you say an artist sounds just as good live, if not better. They began with ‘Who Laughs Last’ (featuring Kristen Stewart's ghostly vocals), moving seamlessly into the soft ache of ‘Looking Back.’ The band’s mix of harmonica, banjo, and layered guitar shimmered under carefully orchestrated lighting, turning quiet moments into bursts of colour and emotional release.

Unlike the dance-heavy energy of many shows, this crowd was transfixed – still, mesmerised, soaking in the intimacy. Schneider, in his understated way, leaned into the romance of the night. ‘You don’t know where life will lead you,’ he mused, calling it a privilege to return to London twice in one week. Later, he addressed the crowd with a conviction rare in an era of shuffled singles: ‘However you choose to consume music, my one request is that you listen to the album the old fashioned way, in order, front to back, the whole damn thing. It may sound pretentious, but I don’t give a fuck.’ It drew laughter, then applause. He continued: ‘New meanings reveal themselves. Just don’t listen to the song of a bitch backwards – it’ll open a portal and make a mess of your living room.’

The highlight of the mid-set came when Misty Boyce joined Schneider for ‘I Lied,’ her entrance met with thunderous cheers, echoing last year’s moment at All Points East. The audience swayed and hummed along, but when the band reached ‘Meet Me in the Woods’ and the haunting ‘The Night We Met,’ the crowd truly erupted, voices filling the hall.

As the set appeared to close, chants of ‘one more song’ swelled into clapping. The stage dimmed, leaving only the jukebox glowing. Then, as if struck by lighting, it flared and sparked the band’s return – three more songs followed, a perfectly chosen finale: ‘The World Ender,’ ‘Nothing I Need,’ and ‘Not Dead Yet.’ In charming flourish, the crew themselves joined on stage in tinsel skirts, embodying the same sparkle that ran through the night.

By the end, Brixton’s walls held the hum of voices unwilling to let go. On the tube home, packed tight, you could still hear the lingering echo of a show that was less a concert and more a shared dream, stitched together by purple light, old stories, and a voice so effortlessly smooth it seemed to glide through the hall. Throughout the night, Schneider leaned into his signature stage quirk: a vintage payphone, used both as a prop and a microphone, amplifying the sense that every song was a call from another time and place.