A sold-out show in the capital set the scene for the first of two shows in London for the Remember That You Will Die Tour. However, highlighting the fact that the show was sold out isn’t that impressive when this was the 19th sold-out show in a row for Polyphia! The four-piece Texan outfit found themselves in their home on this side of the Atlantic, ready for a night to remember.
Support on the night came from Johan Lenox, showcasing a multi-instrumentalist-rapper-DJ-hybrid set. It certainly was an intriguing set, mixing symphonic passages featuring live violins and piano with rap and beats. It was something new for me and most of the crowd, but not unexpected from Polyphia, bringing such an eccentric act with them on tour.
Similar to when I last saw Polyphia, back in early 2019, the crowd was riled up from the get-go, chanting “Polyphia” onto the stage and moshing from the very first track. Polyphia kicked off with “Genesis” and “Neurotica”, both from their new album Remember That You Will Die. Their showmanship and precision while tackling complex leads and riffs were a sight to behold. Next up was “O.D.”, a personal favourite of mine that had the crowd jumping to the Latin-infused beats!
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Polyphia then featured a trio of tracks from The Most Hated EP. A DJ-esque ‘reload’ to the start of “Goose” had the crowd on the edge of their seats, while before kicking off “40oz”, guitarist Scott had the audience crowd surfing at his whim. “Icronic” ended with an epic drum solo from Clay to round off this segment of the night.
Another standout moment from the night was Polyphia instructing the crowd to sing along to the main melody of “Champagne”, a song from Polyphia’s back catalog. Given that I haven’t mentioned it thus far, Polyphia is an instrumental band, but I heard more singing at this gig than at many others in my time reviewing shows!
Towards the latter end of the set, Polyphia played through more tracks from the new album, including “All Falls Apart”, “The Audacity” and my personal favourite from the new record, “Reverie”. The energy levels from the band remained at 100 throughout the night, matching the vibe of the audience. Polyphia finished their main set by switching their guitars for whacky electro-acoustics to perform the track “Playing God”. Hearing this blend of flamenco-style guitar mixed with trap beats live was phenomenal. There are no words to describe Polyphia’s genre, other than “all genres”.
The moment Polyphia left the stage, the encore chants began, rising in volume until the lights dimmed again and Polyphia came out to play “G.O.A.T.”, a fan favourite. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Polyphia swiftly kicked into a short cover of CKY’s “96 Quite Bitter Beings” – with Scott taking vocal duties, the only track to feature vocals from the band tonight! The encore ended with “Euphoria”, with guitarist Tim luring the audience into a state of euphoria with sweet and calming melodic lines.
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Header photo by Alana Ann Lopez. Gig photos by Polyphia.
Polyphia’s latest record Remember That you Will Die is available now through all major digital outlets
Polyphia: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
Johan Lenox: twitter | instagram | youtube
