The Waterboys are back on the road, and this time they’re bringing with them a bold new album, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper. With over four decades of music behind them, Mike Scott and his ever-evolving lineup continue to deliver performances that blend nostalgia with fearless reinvention.
The night was a sold-out show at the iconic Roundhouse in Chalk Farm. With its circular architecture and intimate acoustics, the venue was the perfect setting for a night of good music. Beer in hand and the buzz of anticipation thick in the air, the crowd erupted as The Waterboys hit the stage—decked out in glittery cowboy hats and flares. Yeehaw!
They opened with “Glastonbury Song,” met with a roar of approval, before easing into the beloved classic “How Long Will I Love You.” Bro Paul Brown lit up the stage with his keyboard work on “Be My Enemy,” which ended with a cheeky nod to the Rolling Stones’ “Bitch.” Then came a show-stopping piano solo from James Hallawell on “This Is the River,” nearly sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Midway through the set, a video of Steve Earle performing “Kansas” set the stage for something special. Mike Scott introduced their new concept album, inspired by the life and times of Dennis Hopper—an idea, he claimed, that came to him in a dream. As the band played selections from the album, scenes from Easy Rider and vintage footage of Hopper and Peter Fonda played behind them, adding a cinematic layer to the performance.
The encore was a celebration in itself. Members of the support band Sugar Foot and rising star Barney Fletcher joined The Waterboys on stage for a rousing rendition of “The Whole of the Moon,” transporting the audience to a time when life felt carefree. Scott then handed the spotlight to Barney, who performed his own track “Wasted Sunset” with Scott backing him—a touching moment that hinted at a bright future for the young artist, clearly in awe of his mentor.
The night closed with none other than “Fisherman’s Blues,” met with a thunderous singalong that echoed through the Roundhouse.
On the way back to the tube, I chatted with a longtime fan who recommended the documentary A Wild and Beautiful Ride, which chronicles the making of the new album. He said it brings the songs to life in a whole new way—so if you’re catching The Waterboys on this tour, maybe grab some popcorn and give it a watch beforehand.
Setlist
Glastonbury song
How long will I love you
Be my enemy (with ‘Bitch’ by the Rolling Stones outro)
Medicine Bow
When ye go away (band intro then)
This is the sea
Life, death and Dennis Hopper (showing Kansas Stephen Earle video)
Live in the moment baby
The tourist (featuring with Barny Fletcher and Sugar foot)
Andy a guy like you
Blues for Terry Southern
Hopper’s on top (Genius) (featuring Barny Fletcher and Sugar foot)
Transcendental Peruvian blues
Michelle (Always stay)
Letter from an unknown girlfriend (Mike Scott solo)
10 years gone
I don’t know how I made it (with Barny Fletcher)
Golf, they say (featuring Barny Fletcher and Sugar foot)
The passing of Hopper
Don’t bang the drum
A girl called Johnny
Spirit
The pan within (extended outro)
The whole of the moon
Wasted sunset (Barny Fletcher cover)
Fisherman’s blues (featuring Barny Fletcher and Sugar foot)
After first rising to prominence with the expansive, 1980s-inspired dream-pop of ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ and its standout tracks, Ethel Cain has spent much of her artistic journey trying to step away from that sound. She’s leaned into a moodier mix of drone, ambient rock, and raw analogue textures. “I’m not a fucking pop artist,” the Tallahassee singer once told The FADER, adding, “I reject that wholeheartedly.” Her experimental projects ‘Perverts’ and ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’ make that stance very clear, and her latest tour often feels like a firm break from the softer sounds that brought her into the spotlight.
For the first of her five headline nights at Hammersmith Apollo, Hayden Anhedönia builds a scene that feels like a slightly playful, gently eerie B-movie graveyard. She spends most of the performance tucked inside a moss-covered altar, surrounded by dramatic lighting and a crucifix mic stand. The show is nearly silent when it comes to onstage chatter. The rare moments she does address the audience are understated and easy to miss. When a fan shouts their love for her, she responds with a simple “Thank you!” from the darkness.
Instead of walking the stage to build energy, the lighting design carries that weight, mirroring the intensity of her songs. During the gritty, heavy ‘Dust Bowl’, she sings inside a slowly circling beam of light that sweeps across the Apollo with piercing brightness, while strobing green and white lights heighten the tension during long instrumental passages.
Ethel Cain. Credit: Connie Burke
As the warm, rough-edged guitars of ‘Knock At The Door’ fill the room, the production shows it can match the strange, atmospheric side of Cain’s catalogue, even if those moments are rare tonight. The set doesn’t lean heavily on ‘Perverts’, but brief pieces of ‘Houseofpsychoticwomn’ and the title track make their way in. The industrial ballad ‘Vacillator’ appears in full, bathed in stark white light as she softly sings, “If you love me, keep it to yourself,” on a track heavy with buried emotion.
For the most part, the night is devoted to ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’. The album slows the cinematic Southern Gothic of her debut ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ and explores the dizzying pull of a teenage love triangle. The shimmering synths of ‘Fuck Me Eyes’ and the lush strings of ‘Nettles’ bring an early glow, before the performance drifts into hazy ambient dream-rock reminiscent of Grouper. The mood is thick and steady, though it lacks big shifts in dynamics, leaving the set on a single emotional wavelength.
When ‘Tempest’ is briefly stopped and restarted so medics can help an audience member, ‘Waco, Texas’ follows as the main set closer. The encore then pivots toward older material, shifting the tone entirely. After a heartfelt ‘A House in Nebraska’, Anhedönia steps out from behind her green altar for the first and last time, moving into the brighter side of her discography with ‘Crush’ and ‘American Teenager’. Even though she has expressed discomfort with her most well-known tracks, their contrast with her darker material gives the finale a powerful lift. After holding the room in quiet tension for so long, their arrival feels like a release that lands with even greater impact.
