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Review: Inhaler, O2 Academy – ‘An exhilarating tour-de-force’
“It’s good to be back, Bristol!” exclaims frontman Elijah Hewson, mid-set.
Dublin’s Inhaler has a long history with Bristol’s O2 Academy. First playing the 1000 capacity venue in 2021, in support of their number one debut album It Won’t Always Be Like This, they’d upgraded from the intimate Exchange almost two years prior.
The queue went round the block, and the infamous fight happened during pop-song Ice Cream Sundae here. By album two, Cuts & Bruises, they’d sold the room out again, this time to a much more relaxed, much younger audience.
is needed now More than ever
Confusingly, the band didn’t return to the Academy back in February, when they released Open Wide, nor did they make their debut at the newly opened Beacon. Instead local fans had to make the journey to neighbouring cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Brighton.
However, last night Inhaler invited us back to their house for a special one-off show. Promoted as an intimate performance, it proved just how far the quartet have come since their first gig here.
Opening with eponymous track Open Wide, the band arrived onstage in a wash of blue, Elijah Hewson’s nonchalant utterance of a simple “hello” sending the tightly packed crowd into a frenzy.
“You’ve got your arms out open wide” invites everyone in the room to extend their arms towards the stage, Hewson reciprocating the stance for the final chorus.
Dublin’s Inhaler brought their energy back to the O2 for the third time
The stage lights switch to green, white and orange, the band enhanced under crisper, brighter lighting as the fog lifts, screams erupting with the transition, the more dedicated fans knowing exactly what this signifies.
We throw it back briefly with Dublin in Ecstasy, a number the band have played since their earliest gigs around 2018, becoming a fan favourite which eventually got its release in 2023, before we return to the new music with Little Things, the heavier of the songs on their predominantly pop leaning new record.
Hewson tells the crowd they’re about to try something they never have before, so to bear with them, before the glistening picking of the guitar riff courtesy of Josh Jenkinson introduces the first ever live performance of All I Got Is You.
Similarly, the addition of Concrete, as well as The Charms, a current fan favourite with its vivid, dramatic and cinematic storytelling in the lyricism (“Scene one / Started with a girl and her gun / Nine lives / And her counting down every one”) and atmospheric sonics reminiscent of an early 2010s indie-pop track.
The quartet were celebrating the release of their third album, Open Wide
Still Young also gets its deserved moment tonight, having been rarely played during the February UK tour. With its slower, ending credits feel, and classic Inhaler themes of youth and heady optimism, it perfectly encapsulates what makes this band so special to so many people, and how much they’ve achieved in such a short time frame.
The drama of X-Ray, notably its recurring unhinged lyric “I will chain myself to your soul” marks the end of the slightly more experimental aspects of Inhaler’s new musical direction, as we accelerate towards a shimmering pop spectacle to close the evening.
Album opener Eddie In The Darkness sees the front rows bouncing, before single Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah) invites the crowd for a singalong, every audience member taking great pleasure in screaming the “Yeah yeah yeah” of the chorus as loud as possible.
The band tried something new this time, performing their track All I Got is You live for the first time
It’s a euphoria which guides us into what was our first taster of this new era back in October, Your House, the gospel-led ballad evoking nostalgia through its introspective lyrics and drummer Ryan McMahon’s distinctive percussion.
Whatever your thoughts on the new, more commercial sounding record, the whole crowd came together for the final song of the night, My Honest Face, a frantic rock number from their debut.
As the opening guitar riff and synth line play out, there’s a scramble as audience members desperately get on each other’s shoulders for one final song.
Any remaining energy is released and the excitement of the crowd only builds as we approach the brash middle eight. “I wanna be / On TV / Kill the fear” signals the end of the show, as arms go flailing and there’s one last singalong in the final chorus.
The crowd goes wild as energy builds towards the end of the set
Hewson kicks over his microphone proving he’s still as rock ‘n’ roll as on the band’s earlier discography, and all the members come down to the front to throw guitar picks and set lists, expressing their gratitude one last time.
Considering the show was labelled an album show, the length of the gig did feel somewhat disappointing. While the new album is made up of 13 tracks, the longest of all Inhaler’s projects, tonight’s set list was only 12 long, two being from other albums.
Doors also opened at 6:30, leaving the crowd waiting for an hour and a half for the support band, and Inhaler not arriving on stage until 9pm.
However, the just under an hour-long set packed a punch, the crowd and band alike giving their all from the get-go in an exhilarating tour-de-force of high-energy, feel-good tracks.
Hopefully Inhaler will come back with their “arms out open wide” on their next album tour, and all those which transpire.
All images: Katie Hillier
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