Music
Review
Thundercat: The genre-defying bassist brought the funk to O2 Academy Brixton
From off-kilter time signatures to endearing interactions with fans, here are the highlights from the London stop of the DISTRACTED AF tour
It may seem left-field to go on tour before your album comes out, but for Thundercat, left-field is just a regular Wednesday. The bass phenom kicked off the UK leg of his DISTRACTED AF tour on 25 March 2026 at O2 Academy Brixton, a whole week before the release of his album, Distracted. The album already boasts collaborations with Lil Yachty, Tame Impala, WILLOW, and the late Mac Miller. Plus, soon-to-be-released tracks with A$AP Rocky and Channel Tres.
Despite the tour and album title, Thundercat’s show felt intentional and focused – even with the free-spirited nature of his bass solos and endearingly awkward crowd interactions. “I need a new therapist,” he tells us between songs. When a fan close to the stage offers to be his new therapist, Thundercat laughs it off with “I don’t think you can be front-row at my show and be my therapist, dawg.” When the show began with ‘ThunderWave’ playing through speakers whilst the artist and his band were offstage, it gave us time to take in the grand stage design. A massive ThunderCat with shifting colours and lights, two platforms on either side of the stage for keyboardist Dennis Hamm and drummer Justin Brown to each play from, and a soundboard centre stage. We’ll come back to the soundboard later.
After Brown’s intro drum solo – a frenetic build-up to the high bpm drumline of ‘Children of the Baked Potato’ – Thundercat begins the show with the Remi Wolf collab. We’re immediately in the world of unexpected time signatures, vocal inflections, and bass riffs. ‘Children of the Baked Potato’ is Thundercat’s ode to the famous LA jazz club, The Baked Potato, and an apt place to begin the show. Channeling the experimental and improvisational aspects of the jazz club, each song is reimagined for the live experience. It feels particularly special, then, to hear unreleased tracks such as ‘Candlelight’, ‘A.D.D Through The Roof’ and ‘Walking on the Moon’ performed live, because we know we’ll never hear these versions again.
“Feel free to mosh pit!” Thundercat invited the audience to “party” through his more recognisable hits ‘I Love Louis Cole’ (a nod to the multi-instrumentalist and his long-time collaborator), ‘Black Qualls’, ‘Uh Uh’ and ‘Overseas’. The latter of which shifted something in the air of the room, as the crowd felt like they could also participate in Thundercat’s wild and wonderful world. A few more quips with the audience between songs; “I should just shut up and play the old shit”, “London, did you miss me?”; and the audience had fully bought in. We were in the belly of the beast.
After performing a bass solo sat on the edge of the stage, and giving both Hamm and Brown time to show off skills of their own during new track ‘Anakin Learns His Fate’, it was time. “I wore this durag for you,” and everyone prepared for his oddball R&B love song ‘Dragonball Durag’. His vocals floated above and almost beyond the dimension he’d created at O2 Brixton Academy. Perhaps this was Thundercat’s plan all along: to show us that something that simple but equally paramount to the Black community – the humble durag – had the power to be ethereal. Something to ponder.
“Let’s party!” Not too much time spent pondering at the show, however, as it was time for ‘Funny Thing’ from his 2020 album It Is What It Is. The song has been a staple for online content creators for the past six years, and the energy of the crowd reflects that. Every single person in the venue was moving, fully immersed in each improvisational riff the bassist had to offer.
With each song breezing effortlessly into the next, the moment we get to Thundercat’s biggest hit ‘Them Changes’ crept up on us all. Beginning with funky re-imagining of the song’s intro before charging through to the song itself, ‘Them Changes’ feels fresh every time. As fresh as his new Distracted tracks on the setlist, as fresh as his inspired live arrangements. A singular talent.
Image credits: Dave Burke
