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In recent years, Megan Thee Stallion’s name has often been linked with controversy. Whether that’s from her horrific shooting, legal wars with her old label, or allegedly using bots to boost streaming numbers, the Houston Hottie can’t catch a break in the public eye. But, now newly independent, she’s self-funded the ‘Hot Girl Summer Tour’ – her first-ever headline world tour and a major milestone for the artist. As it comes to a close at The O2 in London tonight (July 17), nothing can overshadow the entertaining free-for-all that is about to ensue.
The 29-year-old announces her presence with a thunderous boom, triggering a massive roar from her adoring fans. Red-hot embers flicker up the screen, soon morphing into a colossal blaze as Thee Stallion rises from the ground on a stage lift. With her hand on her hip and head to the sky, she exudes confidence while kicking things off with the powerfully brazen ‘HISS’.
After a fierce start, Megan reminds the crowd they “came here to have a motherfucking time” and, as the Hot Girl Coach, she wants London to show her “what they got”. So, to test if the city’s energy is as legendary as often told, she brings out her dancers and plays a slew of her cult classics such as ‘Freak Nasty’ and ‘Thot Shit’, the audience’s wild enthusiasm shooting through the roof. Many twirl their hips to Thee Stallion’s signature tunes, while others try to mimic the intricate choreography done by Meg and her backup, proving that, years on, these songs still have the same enthralling effect.
Throughout the night, there are numerous outfit changes and intermissions. After the first, MTS rises from the ground again, this time in an iridescent snake egg to perform the self-assured ‘Plan B’. The second time she leaves the stage, she recreates her own Instagram livestream as the camera crew randomly puts a spotlight on her fans before emerging once again in a bronze outfit.
The highlight of the night was the live debut of her viral song ‘Mamushi’. Megan teases the crowd – saying she “has something cute for the last ‘Hot Girl Summer’ arena tour show” – before inviting Yuki Chiba to perform their chart-climber together. The duo recreate the popular TikTok dance, sliding their hands down their arms every time the chorus hits.
The original Hot Girl’s biggest London show to date closes with her Billboard Number One ‘Savage (Remix)’, giving her all for the last dance number of her entire tour. While the outro rings through the arena and confetti flies everywhere, Megan stands on stage in glee, telling the audience she “can’t believe” she’s successfully finished her first big feat as an independent artist. The night – which is an exuberant celebration of fun, twerking and self-confidence – ends with her trademark statement that never gets old: “Real hot girl shit!”
Megan Thee Stallion played:
‘HISS’
‘Ungrateful’
‘Thot Shit’
‘Freak Nasty’
‘Megan’s Piano’
‘Gift & a Curse’
‘Hot Girl’
‘Kitty Kat’
‘Cobra’
‘Plan B’
‘Cognac Queen’
‘Big Ole Freak’
‘Girls in the Hood’
‘BOA’
‘Sex Talk’
‘Realer’
‘What’s New’
‘Captain Hook’
‘Wanna Be’
‘WAP’
‘Mamushi’ (With Yuki Chiba)
‘Cash Shit’
‘Where Them Girls At’
‘Savage (Remix)’
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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’
