LIVE REVIEW: Sunset Sons, Any Young Mechanic, Darcey Hope, O2 Academy Islington, 24/09/2025

Photo Credit: Kevin O’Sullivan

You never really know what you’ll get when you turn up to a Sunset Sons gig. Less so the actual band — their set has remained remarkably consistent over the past five or so years — but more the on-the-night run up. From 2015’s acoustic singer-songwriter The Beach and the excellent, electronic absurdism of Zibra, 2018’s Vistas, 2019’s rocky Natural Mystery Museum or 2022’s Tom A. Smith, the gigs tend to somehow run the gambit of genres. London’s show at the O2 Islington was no different. Acoustic singer songwriter Darcey Hope was relatively ‘traditional’ — but who’d think they’d get Australian five piece Any Young Mechanic, who came equipped with a banjo, fiddle and a double bass? Vocalist Sam Wilson’s voice was pretty much a warble away from a yodel. Fantastic, sure, just a little bizarre.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

First up came the 23-year-old Darcey Hope. Or 24 year old now, given that the show marked her last night at 23! That meant the gig served as a pre-Birthday celebration, along with the planned celebration for just-released EP Late To The Party, and you could see that in just how ecstatic she was to be on stage. Soulfully crooning down the mic, equipped only with an acoustic guitar, her smiles were infectious, the crowd gleefully basking in her feel-good tracks. From the call and response of Ace Of Spades – “NOT the Motörhead track”, she was quick to point out – to the (at the time) latest single I Could Just Come Round, the set was as wholesome and intimate as you could ask. Particular credit, though, goes to See How You Soften, somehow sounded like it carried with it the tones of a Summer on its decline, a coldness coming in on the breeze even as you bask in the track’s Autumnal glow.

And, to top it all off, you could see how happy that the gig with Sunset Sons made her, having been going to their shows herself since 2016! 8/10

And then we come to the five piece Any Young Mechanic. Formerly Wake In Fright, the Australian group had been over in the UK from late August, including appearances at Reading and Leeds, and their shows supporting Sunset Sons marked the end of a European run. Their set was a genre-hopping ride — country, folk, indie, and something uniquely their own — anchored by nothing but the sheer joy on the band’s face up on that stage.

Tracks like Bear The Brunt ramped the energy up, all rowdy stomps and raw vocals, while the maudlin Write You Wrong or the melancholic wistfulness of Pretty Strange World — somehow seeming exactly like something you’d hear on the Titanic, playing on and partying as the world collapses around you — let the band show off their instrumental prowess. Meanwhile, one of the evening’s best moments came when they “finished” the set with a thunderous crescendo — only for Wilson to sheepishly laugh: “No, that was not our last song, despite all the dynamic indicators that it was.”

Finishing it off with The Place On The Market, one of only two tracks currently available on SoundCloud, it was a bizarre set that managed to  shine brighter as the audience became more and more enamoured. One to keep an eye on. 8/10.

And finally, the main event.

As always, Sunset Sons didn’t start so much as arrive. Rory bounded on stage to You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, already half-dancing behind his keyboard… and then it was time for the set. Immediately exploding into action with 2015’s Medicine, the band’s goal for the night was clear; they’ve been gone for three years. Let’s remind everyone why exactly they came back. From the rocky, rapid fire energy of Bring The Bright Lights, or the crowd favourite of She Wants — with screamed lyrics felt fit for a band currently plastered across the airwaves, not one that, bar two singles in the meantime, practically disappeared.

By that point, there was a frantic urgency to them — songs flying by like they’re making up for lost time. The band seemed understandably full of pent-up energy,  Rory in particular striding across the stage like some caged up animal; even in the middle of a key section, he’d suddenly leap away as if possessed. Even the songs weren’t spared; it could have been imagined, but tracks themselves seemed sped up, the anthemic Heroes and the shimmering Love Lights racing on by. The newer duo of Can’t Explain and Magic landed like an instant classic, while the addition of Darcey Hope to a performance of Lost Company breathed life into the old classic.

Then came Running Man, which, somehow, out-rocked The River. At least until the band got to The River, anyway, sounding heavier and angrier than ever. Contrasted with the emotional Hero To Me, Rory holding back tears, the show somehow managed a full gambit of emotions within just a few songs. Though, Remember, with its drawn-out, ambient piano intro that slowly morphed into a sonic, crowd-screaming tsunami, still took the cake.

And, suddenly, that was the last song. Well, everyone knew it wasn’t, but you’ve got to pretend, right?

A closing trio of I Can’t Wait, the emotional Superman, and the ever-faithful final track of On The Road gave the crowd one last chance for some cathartic singing — because, who knows, maybe it’ll be another three years before there’s another?

Let’s hope not, eh? 10/10

Written By: James O’Sullivan