Confidence Man at O2 Academy Brixton, 6/12/24

Light-up bras, inflatable platforms and broken bottles as Brixton Academy becomes a full-on bratty rave

Shortly after the glitching indie rave of Fcukers had finished up, two surprisingly creepy mannequins that looked an awful lot like Confidence Man’s Janet Planet and Sugar Bones were wheeled onto the stage of London’s O2 Brixton Academy. They sat motionless behind a DJ booth while a retro “Confidence Man are loading…” message was displayed behind them. Then, without warning, a shrouded stage hand wheeled the models offstage without saying a word. Why the oddball theatrics? Why not.

That attitude is the driving force behind everything Confidence Man do. The band makes silly, sexy dance music that feels like an extension of Charli XCX’s Brat Summer. Live, their gigs are part hedonistic 90s warehouse raves, part sugar-fuelled kids birthday parties. They’re big on fun. It’s little wonder they’ve become the ultimate festival band in recent years and on Friday evening, they played the first of two biggest ever headline shows at Brixton Academy.

Confidence Man kicked the celebrations off with the chirpy, robotic ‘Now U Do’ and the club-ready ‘Does It Make You Feel Good?’. From there, the tempo, euphoria and onstage stunts got bigger and bigger. There were trust falls and flips, arcade dance routines and plenty of costume changes. Deliberately janky visuals were displayed on a giant video screen, while a DJ and drummer performed on inflatable platforms that could have been borrowed from classic Dr. Who. The show felt massive, even if the production tricks were a wind machine, a light-up bra and a fake glass bottle that Janet shattered over Sugar Bones’ head to kickstart the wonky industrial snarl of ‘Sicko’. The whole thing was decadent, excessive and sunny.

There was a lot going on musically as well. ‘Cool Party’ was a champagne-soaked parade, and ‘Feels Like A Different Thing’ was driven by a playful sense of mischief. Reggae legend Sweetie Irie jumped onstage for ‘Real Move Touch’ while ‘Breakbeat ‘inspired a rowdy, venue-wide chant-a-long. After all that raving, the band ended the show with the dreamy title track to recently-released third album, 3AM (La La La). In true chaotic Confidence Man fashion, the song quickly erupted into a bratty, britpop inspired rager, delivered in front of a giant middle-finger.

Confidence Man are known for euphoria rather than emotion, but the open-hearted ‘I Can’t Lose You’ was a giddy reminder about the importance of community while the snarling ‘So What’ was all about positivity and throwing yourself whole-heartedly into every joyful situation. Their madcap blend of performance art, holiday camp cheese and huge pop bangers probably shouldn’t work, but Confidence Man’s swaggering, scrappy attack was impossible not to get caught up in. The whole night was a much-needed explosion of optimism.

Confidence Man play Parklife festival in June 2025. Find tickets here

Photo credit: Frances Beach