Live Review: Baby Metal - The O2 Arena, London
30th May 2025
Support: Bambie Thug, Poppy
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
Well, this is exciting. Babymetal at the O2 arena in London.
Opening up the nights proceedings is Irish artist Bambie Thug, an extremely unique mix of several genres that I can’t even begin to list. However, they have coined it Ouija-pop.
Their performance could never disappoint, and not knowing what to really expect meant that I went in with a very open mind on it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, much like majority of the crowd, which I would say that the O2 Arena was around 75% full when Bambie Thug took to the stage and a vast amount of them were singing along with the band.
The choreographed dancers, along with Bambie Thugs movements themselves all just fit the style of the performance, it doesn’t seem a miss and it is easy to see why they do not want to be lumped into just one genre of music. Effortlessly blending elements of metal, pop and what I would class as hip hop.
IIt’s hard to say that they are the top of their genre when they are the only artist really in the genre. But Bambie Thug is incredible. Such a mix of styles, blended together to create some catchy and fun music.
Next up another genre blending masterclass in the form of Poppy. Having discovered her back in her early Youtube when my reaction was just confusion, she has since gone on to really make a name for herself in the music world.
This performance is no different from tonight’s opener in the fact that it is a flawless high energy show. Although having a decent collection of music to pick from, Poppy stuck to the mostly heavier side of her tracks tonight which was very well received by the now packed out arena. We even get treated to a cover of her song with Bad Omens “V.A.N." It is an amazing song to hear live with Poppy’s backing bands spin on the musical aspect.
A key thing about Poppy’s performance is that it is heavily centred around her and the music. It really grabs your attention and makes you focus on her extremely unique vocal work that she has nailed to an absolute T. I will definitely but swinging by the Apex Stage at Download this year to see how she performs on an even grander scale.
By this point, everyone is hyped up and looking forward to the main act. We have all been teased by a stage extension all night that neither of the support acts utilised, so this was very much in place for Baby Metal.
To quote a friend that was at the show "what the hell did we just watch". We get a video intro giving a brief history of the band, then the thunderous chugs of “Babymetal Death” as the three of them rise through fog on to the stage. But wait, theres more. Flames, so many flames!
Last year on the Download Mainstage sadly their performance was cut short due to the horrendous rain. So seeing them inside where they cannot be interrupted is an absolute bonus.
I knew a little bit of what to expect, and they bloody delivered, the dancing, all in time was perfect, and not a single body in the crowd was still. Whether that be head banging or an absolute sea of Kitsune signs being thrown up in the air, everyone is getting into it. Old school metal heads, little fresh mini moshers. It is such a varied crowd and it just goes to show that all those people that used to say Baby Metal are not metal, were in fact very wrong.
It is a set of absolute hits, including their freshly release “Song 3” that normally would feature Alex Terrible from Slaughter to Prevail. We were hoping we would get that segment live tonight, however it was a pre-recorded version of his vocal parts. Much like “Kon Kon” and “Ratatata” both of which featured recordings of Bloodywood and Electric Callboy. Whilst this could be seen as cheating a little bit. It really does not matter as Babymetal feature so heavily on these songs.
We also got the world premiere of “Sunset Kiss” which the crowd went insane for. Contrasting the recorded aspects of the collaboration songs, Poppy came out for the encore to join the band for “from me to u” which again sounded incredible. Everything tonight has been spot on.
As a whole, this has been one of the top shows of the year so far, the atmosphere was incredible, the variation of music acts and the show from start to finish. I could not find a single fault with it.
Unfortunately this is Baby Metal’s only UK stop on this tour, however I wish them the very best on all their next stops, and hope that the crowds they play to, give them just as much as a warm reception that the O2 Arena has.
Photo Credit: Tom Atkin
