Despite a current, slightly unsettling bout of t-shirt weather, we are well and truly in autumn. Promise! The nights closing in might be putting a halt to festival season, for now, but fortunately there’s plenty of other fun to be had around the capital. From megastar milestones to the next big thing, allow us to shepherd you through autumn’s finest offerings.
King Krule
October 9 and 10, Eventim Apollo
South London avant-punk Archy Marshall brings the existential grapplings of this year’s Space Heavy to Hammersmith for two nights. Expect monstrous levels of murk, set to the musician’s existential explorations of fatherhood.
Busted
October 10, The O2
Though they’re yet to out-sell Michael Jackson, Noughties pop-punks Busted are treating the capital to a night of time travel - no Flux Capacitor necessary. That’s what I go to….er, North Greenwich for.
Coach Party
October 12, Scala
Signed to tastemaking indie Chess Club - who helped to launch Wolf Alice, Mumford & Sons and Jungle - you should expect big things from spiky Isle of Wight four-piece Coach Party, who released debut album Killjoy last month.
Kamille
October 12, Omeara
Fred Again.. collaborator Camilla Purcell has been quietly spinning pop gold behind the scenes for years now; as well as co-writing Little Mix’s Black Magic, she’s a collaborator on Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia. Now, she’s stepping out of the shadows as a solo artist, and unsurprisingly knows her way around a banger.
Charlotte Plank
October 12, Hackney Social
A member of the collective Loud LDN, Plank is part of a new wave of dance musicians taking the relentless pulse of drum and bass to new places; the UK garage-tinged Rave Out is bound to go off live.
Diana Ross
October 14 and 15, Royal Albert Hall
From Glastonbury’s Legends’ Slot to one of London’s swankiest venues, Diana Ross is staging one hell of a greatest hits tour. Expect plenty of Supremes cuts alongside her many disco-pop classics.
Easy Life
14 October, Roundhouse
Leicester indie-pop oddballs Easy Life are going from strength to strength despite the baffling news that they’re being sued by EasyJet (yes, really) They sold out the gigantic Ally Pally back in Feb. Now, here’s a chance to catch them in (slightly) more cosy surroundings.
Madonna
14-18 October, The O2
After deviating from the norm back in 2020 with a comically tiny show at London’s Palladium theatre, Madge is back in stadium-baiting business, with a greatest hits epic to celebrate 40 years of setting the agenda in pop.
The Last Dinner Party
17-18 October, EartH
Well-earned buzz around this lot’s ridiculously good live show has made them one of the most talked-about new bands of the year. The dress-code for their Hackney gig is ‘Velvet Goldmine: Glam Rock’ so get vintage shopping.
Baxter Dury
October 18, Roundhouse
Though he’s the son of the late Ian Dury, Baxter’s forged his own distinct path over the last 20 years, setting his evocative London storytelling to intricate, occasionally gentle post-punk.
Goldie
October 20, KOKO
30 years ago this month, Goldie founded the influential drum’n’bass label Metalheadz with Storm and the late Kemistry â and to celebrate, he’s throwing an anniversary bash in Camden, back where it all began.
Hot Chip
21 October, DRUMSHEDS
If you’ve always fantasised about raving in an abandoned IKEA store after-hours, this is your time to shine, sort of: Hot Chip are headlining brand new London megaclub Drumsheds, which is housed within a former branch of the Swedish flatpack HQ.
Young Fathers
October 21, Eventim Apollo
This Mercury Prize-winning trio of Edinburgh art-heads were one of Glastonbury’s standouts this summer - and their live stop at Hammersmith should be equally incredible.
Corinne Bailey Rae
October 25, 26 and 28, Ladbroke Hall
Rocking up in Ladbroke Grove after some breezy folk-pop? Think again; though Bailey Rae’s best known for 2006’s Put Your Records On, her exceptional new album Black Rainbows (given the full 5-star treatment by the Standard) kicks off a remarkable new era of experimentation.
English Teacher
October 26, Scala
Besides being one of the UK’s most off-beat new bands worth catching now before they get proper massive, English Teacher have a gift for brilliantly mundane song titles: A55, Yorkshire Tapas, and The World’s Biggest Paving Slab should all win some kind of award.
S Club
October 27 and 28, The O2
There ain’t no party like an S Club party, and the newly-reunited Noughties pop group are bringing it all back to The O2. Alongside all the hits, expect some kind of tribute to Paul Cattermole, who tragically died following S Club’s rebanding.
NOVEMBER
Blondshell
November 1, Lafayette
After releasing one of this year’s finest debuts, LA grunge-rocker Sabrina Teitelbaum is bulking up for a deluxe edition, and bringing it all to Kings Cross for a reverb-covered London victory lap.
Rick Astley
November 1 and 2, Royal Albert Hall
Between his surprising bond with Foo Fighters, and a Blossoms-featuring The Smiths tribute act which almost stole the show at Glastonbury, 2023 has felt like one big rick-roll - and Astley’s Royal Albert Hall takeover promises to be a whole heap of fun.
Wunderhorse,
November 1, Kentish Town Forum
Jacob Slater has come a long way since his scrappy, safety-pinned beginnings in short lived punk outfit Dead Pretties, and the luscious grunge of 2022’s exquisite debut Cub should be an autumn highlight.
Fall Out Boy
November 2, The O2
Emo kids assemble! Currently on the road with their eighth album So Much (for) Stardust, the Illinois band are making a stop at The O2 next month. Sugar, we’re goin down (to North Greenwich).
Chemical Brothers
November 4, The O2
Time to Galvanise - electronic duo Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands are bringing their big, brash brand of acid-rave and latest album For That Beautiful Feeling to London’s iconic dome.
Inhaler
November 4, Troxy
Despite insisting they sound nothing like them, there’s a distinct whiff of U2 to this Irish band, who bagged a UK number one with their debut album. It figures: Bono is lead singer Elijah Hewson’s dad.
Big Joanie
November 4, EartH
Grace Jones is a big fan of this feminist punk band, and invited them to play her edition of Meltdown last year. Now, they’re taking Back Home - their first album for cult indie label Kill Rock Stars - out on the road.
J Hus
November 5 and 6, The O2
Afroswing pioneer and Stratford rapper J Hus is treating recent album Beautiful and Brutal Yard to two nights of celebrations at The O2, and is hinting there’ll also be some special guests.
Little Simz
November 10 and 11, Alexandra Palace
After bagging the Mercury Prize for 2021’s Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, the prolific London rapper deserved to win again this year with NO THANK YOU - now, she’s levelling up to one of her biggest shows to date.
Sleater-Kinney
November 10, Roundhouse
Lockdown scuppered touring plans for Path of Wellness, making this Roundhouse gig the first chance for fans in the capital to catch Sleater-Kinney since the surprise departure of their longtime drummer Janet Weiss back in 2019.
Jorja Smith
November 10, Troxy
Resisting the pressure of immense buzz around her early singles and refusing to rush into her recent second album Falling or Flying, Smith is an artist who sticks to her guns. Expect similar boldness on show as she plays this grand, art-deco styled venue in Limehouse.
Loreen
November 10, Electric Brixton
Hot on the heels of Sam Ryder and Måneskin - who have both forged impressive careers off the back of Eurovision - Swedish pop-head Loreen is hoping to make it a song contest hat trick. Based on how hard her winning single Euphoria went off at Mighty Hoopla, this should be a chaotic one.
Yaeji
November 11, Roundhouse
The Brooklyn house DJ has curated one hell of a line-up for this Pitchfork Festival show; she’ll be joined by rising dance talents Jessy Lanza, George Riley, yunè pinku, Debby Friday and blackwinterwells.
Emeli Sandé
November 11, Royal Festival Hall
A safe pair of hands for any roaring fire-filled Christmas advert soundtrack you could ever dare to dream up, the Sunderland star’s Southbank show should warm the cockles ahead of the capital’s many millions of fairy lights firing up for December.
50 Cent
November 11 and 21, The O2
Time to party like it’s your birthday; to mark 20 years since his debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ the New York rapper is bringing the nine-times Platinum album to the capital for a handful of arena dates, the first of which is at The O2.
Victoria Monét
November 12, Roundhouse and November 15, KOKO
An in-demand songwriter for K-pop stars Blankpink and best mate Ariana Grande, it’s no surprise Monét’s solo stuff is also pop gold. Her debut UK shows both sold out in under half an hour.
Weyes Blood
November 13, Eventim Apollo
With 2022’s exceptional And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, Natalie Mering skewered the isolation and unease of life in lockdown, without a single COVID cliche. Now, she’s back out there forging human connection, and her Hammersmith gig looks set to be emosh.
Rema
November 14, The O2
In yet another milestone moment for Afrobeats’ incredible rise, Nigerian star Rema is set to take over The O2, just a year after selling out Brixton Academy. Dave made a guest appearance at that gig; fingers crossed for more surprises this time around.
Beverley Knight
November 14, London Palladium
Though she made her name as an R&B and soul singer, Knight is also a formidable force in acting, and won an Olivier for playing Mama Emmeline in Sylvia. Fitting, then, that her next London show is in one of the city’s best-known theatres.
The Great Escape: First Fifty
November 15, Various venues
Brighton’s Great Escape is one of the best spots going to hunt down the next big thing, and ahead of next May’s festivities, here’s an early chance to catch some stand-out bookings. Highlights include The Last Dinner Party, Jessica Winter, Nell Mescal (yes, before you ask, she’s the sister of that Mescal)
Queens of the Stone Age
November 15, The O2
Josh Homme’s alt-rock heavy-weights have made some of their rawest, most personal music yet for In Times New Roman… - a record custom-made for pummelling ginormous venues just like this.
The Streets
November 16, Alexandra Palace
God, it’s good to have Mike Skinner back. His wildly influential alternative hip-hop project The Streets are gearing up for their first album release in twelve years, and a huge date at Ally Pally feels like the perfect first victory lap.
Louis Tomlinson
November 17, The O2
Once Directioner Louis Tomlinson has embraced all things indie since the boy band disbanded in 2016 - booking The Cribs and Blossoms to play his Italian festival, and gravitating towards similar influences in his solo wares.
Jessie Ware
November 17 and 18, Alexandra Palace
Ware narrowly missed out on winning the Mercury Prize for a second time earlier this year; but she’s far too busy throwing a full-blown party to celebrate latest album That! Feels Good! to get bogged down with such things.
Ed Sheeran
November 18 and 19, Royal Albert Hall
Our Ed’s been chugging on pumpkin spice lattes lately, it seems - his low-key new album Autumn Variations couldn’t be further from the flawlessly engineered pop of Shape of You, and the two live outings he has planned for it in London are appropriately cosy by his standards.
