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“I know how to make the hard things look really easy,” Addison Rae tells the O2 Academy Brixton crowd, moving playfully across the stage in a glittering silver bikini and tall boots. She’s in the middle of performing ‘High Fashion’, her sultry track that’s more about longing for luxury brands than craving love. But when she hits that lyric, midway through the first of two packed shows at the south London venue, it feels just as much like she’s describing the way her career has unfolded so far.

Becoming a central pop act in 2025 isn’t simple, especially for someone trying to win instant respect with only a handful of tracks and completely reinvent themselves from influencer to credible rising star with genuine cultural weight. Yet Rae has pulled it off, a shift she only really kicked into motion a year ago with the release of ‘Diet Pepsi’, the lead single from her first album, ‘Addison’. Tonight’s show proves how far she’s come, from inviting two fans dressed in throwback versions of her past outfits to join her on stage for a cover of Charli XCX’s ‘Von Dutch’, to sly references sprinkled throughout her set, an Arca remix of ‘Obsessed’ surfacing for a moment, a Britney Spears-flavored twist on 2023’s ‘I Got It Bad’.

Rae has also mastered the trick of looking like a seasoned pop headliner with ease. Before starting her headline tour of the UK and Ireland in Dublin earlier this week (August 25), she’d only played live a small number of times, two intimate album launch parties at The Box in New York and London, an opening slot for Lana Del Rey at Wembley Stadium in July, and a showcase at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Yet at Brixton she moves like someone who’s been doing this for years, the only slip showing when she breaks character to squeal happily at her fans. “Wow, you’re so loud!” she laughs at one point. “I feel so lucky to be here; it’s such a dream come true.”

Addison Rae. Credit: Samir Hussein

When she’s not bubbling over with gratitude for the crowd, Rae delivers an ecstatic hour of perfectly polished pop. Before she even steps out, wrought iron gates stamped with a bold A slide open across the stage, pulled apart by dancers in neon outfits straight out of Spring Breakers. Rae emerges high on a podium as ‘Fame Is A Gun’ kicks off, dressed in a navy swing dress. By the end of the song, her dancers pull away the outer layer, leaving her in a glowing, fluorescent look underneath – a visual metaphor for stepping fully into fame.

‘Summer Forever’ shimmers with dreamy brightness, ending in a steamy routine with dancer Patrick that leaves them sprawled on the floor, faces inches apart. “Oh my god, Patrick! I might even say that was to die for, but I’m not looking for anything serious right now,” Rae jokes afterward – a cheeky quip that brushes up against corny when you realize her next track is 2023’s ‘2 Die 4’. It’s one of the rare missteps of the night, along with the sometimes clashing visuals, Rae tries to merge. She blends gothic southern elements with glossy LA-style touches, nodding to both her Louisiana roots and California life, but the lack of a clear storyline keeps it from fully landing.

The audience doesn’t seem to care, though. They scream along to every chorus, especially when the singles drop. ‘Aquamarine’, ‘Headphones On’, and ‘Diet Pepsi’ all spark wild sing-alongs that feel more like celebrations for a veteran artist than a newcomer. For the finale, Rae stages one more theatrical moment. Sitting on a podium in the center, dressed in a corset and dramatic tulle skirt, she lets the lights fall to black before the music surges back with a key change, sparks pouring across the screen behind her. Once again, she makes something difficult appear completely effortless.