Since forming in 2010 on a Kanye West fan forum, I don’t think anyone anticipated self-proclaimed boyband BROCKHAMPTON’s meteoric rise in the past five years. Even following Kevin Abstract’s fantastic ‘American Boyfriend’ LP and their short lived VICE series, everything was low budget, DIY, just like their homemade music videos for songs like ‘GOLD’ and ‘STAR’.

The huge 13-strong Texan ensemble became Odd Future for the next generation of angsty teens, and after immense, short lived success, it’s all coming to an end. My first and last time seeing them, after unfortunately missing their fantastic 2018 Reading slot, and now it’s no longer a bucket list possibility to catch them at Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw. After announcing their ‘indefinite hiatus’ as a group, it does seem like the end for BROCKHAMPTON. Thankfully, after many re-schedules due to COVID, I had still clung on to my tickets for their first Brixton show. I didn’t realise it would end up being supposedly one of three of their ‘final performances as a group’, including Coachella.

Although their original Brixton show was set to take place in May 2020 to promote ‘GINGER’, it was pushed back again and again, and their European tour was eventually re-scheduled to begin in Norway on January 14th, for a completely different album cycle. The UK got very lucky, as the collective cancelled the rest of their shows apart from two in Brixton. They have an attachment to London, after recording ‘iridescence’ at Abbey Road Studios over a period of 10 days, and spending a lot of time in the city following Ameer Vann’s departure.

Whilst many agree their best work came with their iconic ‘SATURATION’ trilogy, they continued to impress over the years, especially with their most recent LP, ‘ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE’ and their ‘Technical Difficulties’ collection. In the weeks before the show, I began to dig back into all my old favourites, and anticipate what would be one of the most personal, yet chaotic shows I’ve been to.

Finally, the wait was over. Well, not yet. The evening started with an overly-long coach journey from Leeds to London, and although I wanted to relax and work my way through their discography, I somehow got talking to an ex-heroin addict who faced a big prison sentence for a series of Marks & Spencers robberies around Sutton and Croydon, now reformed with a girlfriend and child, helping other addicts. I didn’t get his name, but it was a very honest and human conversation until he became increasingly hostile and confrontational towards me. It was certainly a weird start to the evening, but I had no time to think back as we rushed to our AirBnB and got drinking.

Whilst in an Uber I checked Dom’s Instagram to see him cruising around London to Central Cee’s remix of PinkPantheress’ ‘Just For Me’. Minutes later, we arrived, unfortunately missing Christian Alexander’s opening set, and the beginning of BROCKHAMPTON’s entrance with ‘BUZZCUT’ which I’m still a little devastated about it, it’s hand down one of their best songs in a body of work packed full of heavy tracks just like it. We worked our way into the crowd as ‘BUZZCUT’ came to a finish, and ‘STAR’ immediately began, sending everyone into a frenzy, and transporting me back to 2017.

What I loved about the evening was that (despite starting with ‘BUZZCUT’ and ending with ‘SUMMER’), the show was in chronological order, working its way from the first ‘SATURATION’, all the way up to their latest record, playing a handful of fan favourites from each. Whilst some tracks were sorely missed - people that attended on the second night frustratingly got to witness ‘QUEER’ with a new verse from Dom, and personal favourites ‘WEIGHT’, ‘SISTER’, and ‘BOOGIE’ (but Slowthai wasn’t there, and they got ‘SEX’ instead of ‘THE LIGHT’ so there’s always a silver lining), it was still an incredible set list from start to finish.

After hyping everyone up with ‘GOLD’ to ear-shattering screams of “KEEP A GOLD CHAIN ON MY NECK, FLY AS A JET…”, everyone cooled down for ‘FACE’, but I must have let my guard down, as I recorded one short video, and put it back into my unzipped pocket, seconds later it was gone. After a couple of minutes I had accepted it, but more and more people began turning on their flashlights and searching the area near us, multiple phones had gone missing, I even found one and held on to it till the end of the show. I didn’t want to let it ruin my evening, as they soared through their intense set.

As soon as the strings from ‘GUMMY’ vibrated from the speakers, I tried to ignore regrets of selling my ‘GUMMY’ hoodie for £100 when I was in need of cash, but aside from that I was in my element, I didn’t have a care in the world. Rapping (nearly) every word of Kevin’s opening verse, it was like I was a teenager again, hearing the community of fans unite with the words “CASH DON’T LAST MY FRIENDS WILL RIDE WITH ME”. From ‘JUNKY’ to ‘BLEACH’, the ‘SATURATION’ trilogy fans were out in full force, belting every word, verse, and hook. Luckily, they even had time to transition from ‘SATURATION’ era to the newer stuff with ‘1999 WILDFIRE’, before getting into the nitty grittiness of ‘iridescence’, which translated well to a live setting, especially ‘DISTRICT’. It would have been nice to see ‘TONYA’ or ‘SAN MARCOS’ but those songs are probably pretty hard to perform for them.

Despite the rowdiness of the mental 23 song strong setlist (which band members had to closely monitor after me and many others flew onto the floor in the middle of several mosh pits), it was an unbelievable atmosphere, especially when Slowthai came out for a surprise performance of ‘HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU’ and his monstrous Mura Masa collaboration ‘Doorman’. Perhaps one thing this show lacked was surprise guests for their big send off (besides Slowthai of course) - it would’ve been cool to see Dominic Fike, A$AP Rocky/Ferg, SoGone SoFlexy, JPEGMAFIA, Ryan Beatty or Danny Brown show up, but this was just wishful thinking, and the night was most importantly about them, and the fans (as Kevin said himself on Twitter, “tonight is a celebration if you’re coming to the show be safe and be ready to dance and sing”.

Whilst it was unlikely to hear tracks like ‘NATION’, ‘TOKYO’, ‘LAMB’, ‘MARCH’, ‘HEAT’, or ‘FAKE’, there were only so many tracks the group could play, and gradually, as the night progressed, we moved into a new era of hits, from ‘SUGAR’ to ‘BOY BYE’. After smashing through a couple of ‘GINGER’ highlights, it was inevitably time to hear some of ‘ROADRUNNER’ (for the first and last time for many). As the show was winding down, I got a little teary during ‘WHAT’S THE OCCASION’, but was bought back into high spirits with ‘BANKROLL’, leading into heavy hitting ‘THE LIGHT’, and the absolutely phenomenal ‘DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY’ - which was a flawless way to end the show, until us fans kept cheering for more, and we got a very bittersweet, emotional performance of ‘SUMMER’ from bearface, as the rest of the group took a step back. It was a surreal moment to think it was all coming to an end.

Luckily, after 5 minutes of realising we weren’t getting an encore of ‘BOOGIE’, we ended up finding the people who’s phone I’d found, they helped me find mine – after ringing repeatedly, eventually a police officer answered, and I was re-united. A guy was taken away in cuffs as the police retrieved about 15 phones, all while the usual Brixton Academy counterfeiters sold fake merch for a tenner a T-Shirt to fans… it was pretty tempting but I already had too little money in my account as it was.

The evening didn’t end there though, we rushed behind the venue to see hundreds of fans, a tour bus, and people screaming over Slowthai and Romil (who we just missed). Whilst hundreds waved Yeezy’s and CDs for signing, it was hilarious watching Joba in the midst of the chaos trying to understand someone’s heavy Scottish accent. Luckily, I managed to have a few conversations with them. I told Jabari he should rap more to which he responded “nahhh man”, I wished Matt Champion luck with his solo career considering how nostalgic of a song ‘Fangs’ is for me, got to chat briefly with Kiko, Ashlan, and tell Dom about how much I love his verse on ‘MILK’, before ending up in a selfie with him - which he retweeted!

Thanks Dom💛 pic.twitter.com/tTqol87tHj
— Blair (@blairdo90) February 8, 2022

Most importantly, chatting to Joba was an almost tearful moment for the both of us, after asking him what it was like to work with Dev Hynes (or Blood Orange), he replied “he’s the coolest guy”, but then I mentioned how moving his verse on ‘THE LIGHT PT. 2’ was for me, and wished him luck going forward. He seemed genuinely touched by what I said, which is a moment I’ll remember forever. On the song he raps so poignantly and poetically about the death of his father, never failing to make me well up with lines like “tuck me in, always young enough to feel loved” and the end of the verse which I can only do justice by showing it in full (skip this part for the rest of the review or if you don’t want to tear up) …

“Even though you’re gone you live on,
And the day I have kids, and tell 'em 'bout Grandpa,
And how great he is,
And the grandkids' grandkids, you'll never meet,
If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be, neither would they,
It's safe to say I’ll find a way out the darkness,
The way you left ma' hits me the hardest,
What a shame things change in the blink of an eye,
Fade away, fast break to the depths in the sky,
Impermanence turned permanent with a nine,
That's life, that's life.”

On a lighter note, the ‘don’t believe his lies’ memes about Kevin Abstract certainly seemed true, he unfortunately rushed off despite saying he wanted to meet as many fans as possible earlier that day, on social media, he did state however he was exhausted, which is a valid explanation. He dipped and went to his hotel with his boyfriend (Nick Holiday, the groups art director, and founder of Holiday Brand). Despite not getting to meet Kevin, and only a brief encounter with Merlyn, I at least I got to share some genuinely impactful moments with people I once idolised.

Whilst the downfall of BROCKHAMPTON remains unknown, it must have been a turbulent time for the band since Ameer’s exit, and the suicide of Joba’s father. No doubt a challenging period for BROCKHAMPTON following their split, but hopefully we end up getting that final album, some demos/unreleased content, or even the constantly teased ‘PUPPY’, but even if we don’t - the group went out with a bang in London of all places. After five years that have flown by all too fast, it does feel like the end of an era, as a new chapter of my life begins, as sentimental and overly-nostalgic as it sounds. I met some great people that night who had shared similar experiences to me with their music.

Writing the final words of this review seems harder than usual, due to the immense attachment I have to the days of listening to ‘SATURATION’ everyday in the sun, seeing friends from home every day, sat by the river - it soundtracked part of my life with their relatable, honest, and open lyrics about mental health and anxiety, and although this sounds like some sort of soppy coming of age A24 rip-off, now being in my second year of University and a completely different person to who I was when I was working at McDonald’s and stressing about A-Levels, feels somewhat strange to reflect on when those memories seem so distant. One of the first reviews I ever wrote was for the first ‘SATURATION’ – that was homework in my first year of Sixth Form, a time when my listening habits revolved religiously around Tyler, The Creator’s ‘Flower Boy’, Mac DeMarco’s ‘Salad Days’, and Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’, all albums I listen to to this day - so as you can see, I’m always living in the past, sad to see BROCKHAMPTON go, but thankful I was there to witness it. Maybe this review does read a little biased given their importance to me during turbulent times, and how they connected me to people very close to me, but it was genuinely an amazing night, and the perfect send off for the cutting-edge boyband. Let’s hope Coachella brings this much energy.

Brockampton: Live in Brixton