Live Review: Machine Head (An Evening With…) at O2 Academy Brixton (17/05/2026)

It’s Sunday night in London as we head to Brixton for An Evening With Machine Head for the final night of their EU/UK tour.

Not exactly the best night of the week for a gig, is it? We all know the pain that’s coming Monday morning but Machine Head, back at Brixton Academy? That’s not to be missed, no matter the Monday morning consequences. There is a bit of a “homecoming” feel whenever Machine Head are in the UK, and for me, specifically in London but it feels more genuine when they are in Brixton. I saw these guys light it up here so many times over the decades. During high times, and low times, the UK, and Brixton has been their safe space.

The birthplace of their chant “Machine Fucking Head”, the start of the now familiar “The Blood, The Sweat, The Beers” and so much more. They have always been warmly welcomed here in the UK and in London and tonight is no different. With recent tragedies and subsequent closures of the venue as well, there was a time when we wondered if we would ever set foot back through the doors of this iconic venue. Having not been here for a few years, I have now been back here twice in a month having returned to see Kreator kill it a few weeks back.

So here we are, seeing Machine Head for what I think is around my 30th time, with the most recent of those being their massive headline performance at Bloodstock Open Air 2025, and you know what? I’m still excited. That’s helped by my daughter also being here with me to tick off some more firsts. It’s actually her second time seeing Machine Head, but everything else was a first. First time seeing them indoors, first time being down on the floor standing in the crowd at a gig, and obviously her very first time inside O2 Academy Brixton. With Machine Head being so much a part of the soundtrack of my life, it is special for me that Machine Head are the band she ticks off so many of these “first memories” with.

So, to the gig, and despite all of that gushing love and happiness above, there is a small gripe with this “evening with” format really. It’s not the 3 hours of Machine Head – I’m all for that. It’s simply that with the venue doors opening at 18:00, and the band not coming on until 20:00, we have two hours of standing around, drinking overpriced beer and killing time. I get the concept of the night being all about the Machine Head family, but if you’re going to let everyone in that early, there’s a strong argument for putting someone on first. Give a local band a shot — 30 or 45 minutes to play, break the wait up a bit, give someone a leg up without impacting on the 3 hours of Machine Head ahead of us.

There is a great buzz about the place that is filled up nicely as we approach the start of the show. The lights dim ten minutes before the start as a cut from Bohemian Rhapsody rang out over the PA. This sparked a massive singalong from the excited crowd as they prepared for the arrival of Machine Head. The crowd chants, the roars are deafening as the band take to the stage and the intro to Imperium starts. That slow, building intro, the tension rising, and then… BOOM. With a roar of “Hear Me Now”, the place erupted. It is still, without doubt, one of the best opening songs for a Machine Head show, and it hit hard.

There was little space to move, it’s hot as hell and Machine Head are on stage smashing out Imperium. This is what it’s all about. The sound was heavy and the band, and fans, were on it from the first note. Robb’s vocals were a touch low in the mix at first, though that got sorted out as the gig went on. Not that you could always hear him over the rapturous crowd anyway. The setlist was great and the 3 hours flew by for me.

Imperium led into Ten Ton Hammer and that led into CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE to polish off a raging start with fans in full voice and the band looking like they are really enjoying themselves. Plenty of smoke and pyro added more heat to the sweltering temperature and the superb screens behind and around the band added a lot to the gig visually. The moving images showing album covers, different colour schemes and other images really impressed me.

Now We Die brought a huge singalong with the crowd and it felt passionate and emotional to be part of. There really is a family/community feel which adds weight to Machine Head’s logic behind holding these “Evening With” style shows. The hits keep coming with The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears (or Beers), Is There Anybody Out There? and The Rage to Overcome as Machine Head draw from their whole catalogue.

Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones gets a first ever London airing before another mammoth singalong accompanies ARRØWS IN WØRDS FRØM THE SKY. I love that song and again, like everything happening here, it is engaging and engrossing. The band sound really good, the crowd is positive and it just feels right.

The catalogue keeps getting stretched with everything from songs like Take My Scars to This Is the End to SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR before an in-person fan vote of “roar for your next song” sees Aesthetics of Hate drive the manic crowd to feverish levels. Game Over sounds great and gets everyone moving before Old tears us a new one. A little breather for our bones but not our voices comes with an acoustic rendition of Darkness Within where, as is the norm now, the crowd took the melody up and stretched the song out to a grateful Robb as it closes.

Banger after banger here as we get Catharsis, then ØUTSIDER before a personal favourite, Locust, absolutely floors me. It is such a great song, the screens all in green now with awesome visuals paint the stage and the band sound amazing. We aren’t done yet as the heaviness continues with BØNESCRAPER and then Bulldozer before we are all encouraged to get down on the floor (painful on your knees these days) for a big jump up to From This Day. Such fun! And then the main set comes to a close with, of course, Davidian. The roars of “Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast!” are deafening.

I’m sure you must be able to hear us streets away. Obviously encores aren’t what they used to be so the band do quickly reappear first for a bit of fun as they play some Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath covers. A medley of Iron Man, Paranoid and Crazy Train keep the pit moving, the band and fans smiling and the voices bellowing. We all know what Machine Head close with these days though, right? Yep, it’s time for Halo. A song I will never tire of listening to live. It’s a stunner, full of emotion, brutally heavy at times and has both the most awesome solo and the most awesome close.

The band take pictures but the crowd is emptying quickly. It is a Sunday and those last trains are all leaving rapidly, but everyone is smiling, everyone looks energised and supercharged and that includes the band.

Musically, awesome with a great setlist. Stunning visuals and a great crowd. Some nice crowd interaction as Robb talks about lockdown and the Robb and Jared Happy Hour stuff that got them through. Beers being thrown into the crowd, huge singalongs – this is what live music is all about. What a night. Now if we can just find a clever use for that 2-hour wait, we would be looking at perfection. It’s close to that though and as a long-time fan of these guys, through highs and lows, I am so happy to see them back at the top of the pile looking tight and together, delivering amazing performances for the fans.

All together now – MACHINE FUCKIN HEAD, MACHINE FUCKIN HEAD!