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It’s perfect that Alexandra Palace, the 10,000-capacity venue that sees Fred Again.. play a four-night mini residency this week, offers one of the most humbling views of London – skyscrapers, intersections, houses and all. All those people, all those lives.
The 30-year-old super-producer’s music, a mix of ambient house and techno through which he weaves voice notes of friends and strangers alike, magically turning their words into anthemic lyrics about community and connection, clearly captured some kind of zeitgeist in the pandemic. Having graduated from producing for the likes of Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora, he’s created something close to his own musical language via his ‘Actual Life’ series of three albums and an EP, the latter of which was released two months into Covid. It’s easy to see why: this is deeply emotional dance music that found its audience at a time when we couldn’t see our loved ones and dancing was out of the question.
So tonight marks a milestone. With precisely 35,246 tickets shifted for the four shows, all of which sold out instantly, it’s as much a belated celebration of being on the other side of that dreadful period as it is of Fred Gibson’s rise. The atmosphere outside Ally Pally seems more like that of a festival than of a Tuesday night gig. Groups of friends wrap their arms around one another for photos in front of that killer view; a snapshot in time.
What follows is an audiovisual experience that combines more homey looking videos with a stunning light show – at one point, the ceiling is illuminated by dangling red bulbs that throb against the darkened venue – and music that shifts between massive and muted.
It turns out those keyrings are intended to cover your iPhone torch. When everyone fires them up it should create, in Fred’s words, “a sea of blue”. Yet that’s not the piece de resistance: this occurs when he disappears among the crowd to reappear at the other end of the venue, where he continues the performance from a podium over which hangs a screen that bathes him in light. It looks like something from Kanye’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ era. The whole thing is often astonishing, though the keyring trick doesn’t quite come off and hushed piano interludes rob the show of its momentum.
Outside, afterwards, looking down across the city, 27-year-old fan Charlotte summons the intimate spirit of the night: “At one point, I closed my eyes and thought I was the only person there for a bit.” 23-year-old Prav, meanwhile, hails the “interactive” elements of the performance that saw Fred move out amongst the crowd – the physical manifestation of the producer’s relationship with his audience. Together they capture the unique way in which Gibson’s music has resonated with people as both a vehicle for connection and a balm for the soul.
Another fan tells NME that Fred’s music is “so personal” and that she heard the first ‘Actual Life’ album after she’d to London from Dublin. “I didn’t know anyone in London,” she says, “and his voice notes… it was like I had a mate over here.”
She then shares a deeply personal story about losing her father during this period and explains that tonight marks her third anniversary in the city. Fred, she says, “got me though a lot of shit”. Before we part, she locks eyes and implores: “If you know him, please tell him thanks so much for helping me get to this place.”
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Slayyyter played her take on Turnstile’s ‘Birds’ onstage for the first time in Atlanta. You can watch footage of the performance below.
Slayyyter is currently touring with her ‘Wor$t Girl In The World’ show. She added the cover to her set at The Eastern on Monday night (September 21).
She sang ‘Birds: Slayyyter Version’ near the end of the main set, following ‘Brittany Murphy’. She then came back for an encore featuring ‘Brand New Chanel$’ and ‘Beat Up Chanel$’.
It was her first live performance of the song. She originally recorded it for Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough: Versions’, a collection of reworked tracks released on August 28.
The 22 track release brings together new interpretations of songs from Turnstile’s fourth album. Contributors include Elton John, Hayley Williams, Blood Orange, A. G. Cook, Faye Webster, Four Tet, Oklou, Floating Points, Nourished By Time, Alex G, Julien Baker and Mustafa.
Panda Bear recorded a new take on ‘Magic Man’, while Dying Fetus gave ‘Birds’ another interpretation rooted in death metal.
See Slayyyter perform the track live and listen to her studio recording here:
Slayyyter trades the original song’s hardcore intensity for a bigger electronic sound that feels at home alongside her latest album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’.
Turnstile first released ‘Birds’ on their 2025 album ‘Never Enough’. The song won Best Metal Performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, where the album also won Best Rock Album.
In its five star review of ‘Never Enough’, NME pointed to ‘Birds’ and ‘Sole’ as reminders of Turnstile’s hardcore beginnings. It also praised the album for “furthering their unique, pop-facing take on hardcore”.
Slayyyter will join Turnstile on another stage next month. She and Die Spitz are set to support the band at the University of Kansas in Lawrence on October 6 for the ‘Never Enough Tour Pt. 2’.
It has been a big year for Slayyyter. Her third album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’, came out in March, and NME’s review highlighted its mix of “brash, sleazy pop” and late 2000s indie sleaze sounds.
Last month, she performed Hole’s ‘Violet’ for triple J’s Like A Version. Courtney Love called the cover “a delight” and encouraged Slayyyter to “keep wiping the floors with us”.
A few weeks later, Slayyyter took ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ to Reading Festival. NME’s live review declared that there was “undoubtedly a star before us on stage” and praised her “rasped, rocked-up delivery” and growing confidence as a performer.
