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‘This is The O21!’ 21 Savage yells, closing his marathon two-hour set against a waterfall of cascading fireworks, combining his name with the venue he’s staking a claim to… close enough! His stoic exterior has dropped to reveal genuine elation for a homecoming that’s been a decade in the making; to mark the occasion, his fans are sporting tees emblazoned with the words ‘legal citizen’.
31-year-old Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph is now a stalwart in the Atlanta rap scene, but was born in London before moving to the US at age seven. In 2019, his undocumented status meant he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and threatened with deportation. After a lengthy legal battle, Savage was declared a ‘lawful permanent resident’ in October – hence the merch.
Tonight (November 30) Savage is finishing a victory lap around the country. He’s performing for the first time in London with a whopping 33 song setlist, split loosely into three sections. For added extravagance, he enlists J Hus, Central Cee and Popcaan to do minute-long performances of their biggest songs.
Savage’s hypnotic flow and ominous instrumentals make him particularly captivating on records, though this doesn’t necessarily translate to his live performances. He’s practically shouting throughout the set, more like a traditional MC than the breathy wordsmith we’re used to: the whispering verse on ‘Don’t Come Out The House’ is delivered, strikingly, at full volume.
Nevertheless, he is a natural showman. His rapid delivery of guest features, like Nardo Wick’s ‘Who Want Smoke??’, gets a rapturous response despite being just 30 seconds long. The same goes for a crowd-pleasing stint on Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar’ and cult favourite ‘Peaches & Eggplants’, where the comical line of, “She got a tattoo right by her bikini that says, ‘Eat me’’’ gets joyously propelled off the walls by the 20,000-strong crowd.
While ‘ball w/o you’ and ‘Out For The Night’ showcase his prowess as a lyricist, the atmosphere in the crowd falls flat in the second act. To salvage it, a hat-trick of Hus, Cee and “Poppy” – as he referred to Popcaan – fire up energy levels for the closing act. Their appearances, combined with visuals of the capital and head-to-toe looks in local designer Mowalola, reinstate this idea of Savage being welcomed home with open arms.
Despite two chart-topping solo albums and a Grammy for Best Rap Song (‘A Lot’), it feels like he’s never quite been taken seriously. His issues with ICE were first seen as a joke – but look who’s laughing now. The closing song ‘Rich Flex’ has the crowd breaking into moshpits and screaming, “21, can you do somethin’ for me? / Can you hit a lil’ rich flex for me?’”. It’s so powerful he does it twice. Savage’s chance to perform in the UK has been robbed for so long that just to be here, celebrating his career thus far, feels like a deliciously anarchic triumph.
21 Savage played:
‘Runnin’
‘Glock in My Lap’
‘Don’t Come Out the House’
‘No Heart’
‘Who Want Smoke??’
‘Many Men’
‘Dip Dip’
‘Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians)’
‘EA’
‘Red Opps’
‘Broke Boys’
’10 Freaky Girls’
‘ball w/o You’
‘Ocean Drive’
‘out for the night’
‘Privileged Rappers’
‘Mr. Right Now’
‘Spin Bout U’
‘X’
‘Peaches & Eggplants’
‘a&t’
‘On BS’
‘TOPIA TWINS’
‘Creepin”
‘m y . l i f e’
‘a lot’
‘Rich N***a Shit’
‘rockstar’
‘Major Distribution’
‘Jimmy Cooks’
‘Knife Talk’
‘Bank Account’
‘Rich Flex’
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“I received plenty of comments saying it was far too soon to ‘go solo’,” Geese frontman Cameron Winter told NME last year while reflecting on how people initially reacted to his decision to branch out on his own. “Most likely because a lot of folks assume that ‘solo albums’ only happen once a band has passed its peak and that they usually feel like uninspired cash grabs.”
Honestly, everyone is trying to earn a living however they can these days, yet no one expected a Geese side project to generate any real financial payoff in 2024. “Just so you know,” he went on, “my solo album is different: because barely anyone knows my band, I am young and comfortable living with my parents and I have the freedom to follow any ideas that interest me.”
Brooklyn indie followers and former NME cover stars Geese were gaining real momentum when their second album ‘3D Country’ mixed cowboy psychedelia with a jazzy, art-punk energy that had already captured the attention of many UK 6 Music dads back in 2023, but who could have predicted what came next? Geese have become one of the most talked-about bands of 2025 and are expected to dominate multiple end-of-year lists with the ambitious and full-range rock of ‘Getting Killed’. Yet the moment that set the stage for this rise was Winter’s Lou Reed-inspired debut solo record ‘Heavy Metal’.
A handful of late-night US television appearances and a spot on Jools Holland acted as a welcoming doorway for the world to see what this 23-year-old can do far beyond what many twice or three times his age are capable of. Now the sold-out Roundhouse audience made up of indie teens, art school regulars, fans who traveled across Europe and seasoned listeners reacts with a collective breath as a slight opening in the stage curtain reveals the silhouette of Winter seated at a piano. First comes a spark of excitement, then a sudden hush.
There is no flashy social media moment, no chatter overriding the music and almost no sea of raised phones. There is a sincerity to how the night unfolds. The Geese singer barely turns toward the audience. “Turn around!” someone calls out from the balcony at one stage. “Is this not enough for you all?” Winter teases back. For some, maybe it was more than enough. At least four people appear to faint around the warm and crowded Roundhouse while the room stands in absolute focus as Winter moves through the dreamlike storytelling of ‘Try As I May’, the emotional swirl of ‘The Rolling Stones’, the bright lift of ‘Love Takes Miles’ and the sermon-like stomp of ‘Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)’. When he reaches the intense and spiritually charged ‘$0’, even the most skeptical hipster might be convinced that “I’m not kidding, God is actually real”. In that moment, it feels as though we all understand.
The entire performance can be summed up in how ‘Drinking Age’ unfolds. It starts softly with a gentle touch on the keys before erupting into a thunderous attack on the Steinway that could echo into next year, followed by a long, open cry aimed toward the sky. Winter somehow manages to blend something minimal with something enormous, something grounded with something cosmic, a delicate approach that hits with staggering force as he reaches toward ideas of existence, heaven, hell and everything surrounding them.
Winter could recite the phone book and still leave a crowd stunned. He carries the spirit of a post-punk Rufus Wainwright you can play alongside The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, a Gen Z Tom Waits for listeners exhausted by TikTok overload, a new Nick Cave who arrives at exactly the moment he is needed. His voice feels older than his years yet perfectly suited to express the concerns and emotions of his own generation.
We will continue praising Geese endlessly because they deserve it. They are an extraordinary burst of musical creativity that goes far beyond what their lineup would ever imply, and along with Fontaines D.C., they are poised to become one of the decade’s essential bands. Still, tonight offers something quieter and more intimate. Cameron Winter stands completely on his own power, talent and magnetism, proving himself a rising force who can hold an entire room with only his voice, a piano and an entire future waiting for him.
‘Try as I May’
‘Emperor XIII in Shades’
‘The Rolling Stones’
‘Love Takes Miles’
‘Drinking Age’
‘Serious World’
‘Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)’
‘If You Turn Back Now’
‘Vines’
‘Nina + Field of Cops’
‘$0’
‘Take It With You’
‘Cancer of the Skull’
