South Arcade at Koko, London 2025

I feel like as someone in my thirties this is a shameful thing to admit but, well, I discovered tonight?s band on TikTok. I don?t think, from speaking to others, that I?m alone in this but really it just shows that putting out amusing little videos from your rehearsal room genuinely can help a band get heard by an audience they might not normally. It helps in South Arcade?s case that they music they were putting out there was catchy as hell. Sadly tonight?s a Friday night at Koko and the post-gig club night means it?s a really early start ? it?s a cliche but I literally walk into the room as the Hannah Grae leaves the stage. Shame as she sounds excellent on record with recent single Star Crossed Lover reminding me a bit of the more guitar led Olivia Rodriguo songs with perhaps a touch of early Ok Go.

Second up we?ve got Leap who clearly understand the warm up band brief ? the pit is lively from the get go and people appear to be loving them, which I?m sure is in part due to their charismatic singer who forms an instant connection with the crowd, climbing on the barrier and just hyping them up. They ask if anyone wants a free tshirt and the crowd scream back at them ? i don?t remember the last time I?ve seen a support band launching their shirts into the audience ? if half the people who caught one or joined the pit tonight goto their headline show at Dingwalls at the end of May then that?ll be a bit of a rager.

South Arcade?s theme tonight has a sort of Scott Pilgram aesthetic to it, making it a South Arcade vs North Arcade battle, half the stage in blue, half in red, audience members given various oversized foam hands representing each. It?s a nice bit of attention to detail that sort of links in with the noughties vibe they give off. There?s some familiar songs early on, the set opening with 2005 before moving on to How 2 Get Away With Murder ? the chorus hook on this song is incredible, it?s a real earworm, but the breakdown is up there with the best in pop-punk.

They sneak a cover song in half way through in the form of Justin Timberlake?s SexyBack before they drop into new single Supermodels. They made a point of sharing the lyrics earlier in the day to make sure the crowd knows how to singalong ? it works! Before the breakdown in Moth Kids, singer Harmony says ?I?ve seen a pit trying to open up for a minute, now?s the time to do it!?. It?s a song that sounds like it?s inspired by 00s nu-metal but it?s done with a real fun edge to it. When Riptide starts, which opens with a piano intro, the crowd takes that as a moment to sing along ? the energy steps up as the track gets doing and there?s a synth in the track that gives it a dance music feel.

There?s no denying that South Arcade are a band on the rise; the rooms on each tour keep getting bigger and bigger and the hooks get better and better. They take a lot of inspiration from an era that I hold a lot of nostalgia for but, in doing so, and in using a new medium to connect with fans, they?ve spread these inspirations to a new younger audience. It?s also pretty obvious they?re having a lot of fun with it ? that and they have a real knack for creating a catchy hook.