Live Review: Remi Wolf at O2 Academy Brixton
If there’s one thing that Remi Wolf understands, it’s how to put on a show.
After witnessing her punchy vocals and playfully chaotic energy on the London stop of Wolf’s Big Ideas tour, one thing is evident: Remi Wolf isn’t just a performer – she’s a force to be reckoned with.
Wolf has already been associated with some big names. In 2022, she opened for the pop phenom Lorde on the US leg of her Solar Power tour. More recently in 2024, Wolf opened for Olivia Rodrigo’s sold out UK/EU Guts tour. With her debut album Juno introducing Wolf to the pop music landscape with critical acclaim, her sophomore album Big Ideas feels like a continuation of what the New York Times once referred to as musical “hypercolored explosions”.
The Big Ideas tour embodies this exactly. Entering the venue, I see fans adorned with cowboy hats and neon makeup. The air is alive – the line stretches around the venue up to minutes before Wolf takes the stage. It’s clear that there is something about Wolf that brings her fans together with such palpable excitement. The crowd is young, clearly queer, and buzzing for a good time.
And Wolf surpasses those expectations. She emerges onstage to rapturous applause, jumping straight into the high-energy ‘Cherries & Cream’ before transitioning into the fan-favorite ‘Cinderella’ and the belty ‘Liz’. The crowd is enthralled, and its easy to see why. Wolf is a magnetic performer, twirling around the stage and kicking her legs up in the air. She’s a vocal powerhouse, but sings with such ease that it takes a moment to realize how impressive her belt actually is.
Throughout the hour and fifteen minute setlist, Wolf takes the audience through a rich musical journey. Her songs are incredibly dynamic to listen to, with offbeat rhythms and melodic surprises keeping the listener on their toes. The setlist transitions from grungy to funky to crooning, highlighting Wolf’s musical prowess and range. She doesn’t forget to leave breathing room for the audience either; in the middle of the show, she performs a toned down version of her hit song ‘Sexy Villain’.
Without doubt, one of the highlights of the show is the improvisation section. Wolf encourages the audience to give her three random words – the audience chooses ‘rosy’, ‘Capricorn’, and ‘woody’. In the matter of seconds, Wolf and her band weave the three unrelated terms into a full story set to a groovy melody.
That’s the heart of it: Wolf’s storytelling is fantastic. She spins tales and describes her music in ways that are both hilarious and heartfelt. At one point, she prefaces her song ‘Alone in Miami’ by first describing her life after constantly being on tour for years. It’s intimate and sincere, but Wolf maintains the energy with interjections like “...and I did a LOT of cocaine!”
This is what makes Wolf so charming. She feeds off of the crowd’s excitement; she’s endlessly playful and delightfully crass, and the audience loves it. Her demeanor is incredibly candid – she gleefully announces to the crowd, “this song is about a big dick!” before launching into the ultra-catchy ‘Toro’.
At the same time, she doesn’t shy away from being vulnerable with her fans. Towards the end of the concert, she takes a moment to thank everyone for being there, baring her heart to the crowd while saying “I hope in this room, you feel free and safe.”
And you can tell the audience does. What Wolf creates is magical. No lyric goes unsung by her fans, and more importantly, no emotion goes unfelt. As she wraps up her set with the hyper-popular ‘Disco Man’ and ‘Soup’, she leaves the stage to rapturous applause. And, when she returns for the encore, I can feel the balcony shaking with the sheer enthusiasm of the crowd.
As I’m exiting the venue, I recall a conversation I had with a friend a few months ago. “Take it from someone who’s been listening to Chappell Roan since 2020,” I remember saying. “If you want to know who the next big thing will be, start listening to Remi Wolf now.”
Watching the crowd filter out from the venue, still buzzing with energy, that statement is reaffirmed for me. What Wolf has produced is something special: songs that are equally catchy and compelling, performances that are raunchy and riveting, and a status that cements her as a pop icon in the making.
Photography by Riya Kataria