Alexandra Palace, London, February 13 2025
Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re gonna get. The clue might be in half of the name, but it’s a metaphor that could easily be applied to Spiritbox – who have increasingly sent shockwaves of anticipation and surprise through the metal scene with every track, breakdown and tour that’s been unleashed over the past five years.
The sun hasn’t even set outside London’s Alexandra Palace, and there’s another surprise in store. The first 50 fans in the queue – some of whom have been camped out since 3am – are mysteriously ushered into the backstage bar. Phones are handed in. Goody bags are handed out. Moments later, Spiritbox’s unreleased second album ‘Tsunami Sea’ is blasting around the room, to the mouth-watering delight of their most devoted fans.
Before fans can wipe the smiles off their faces from that incomparable, exclusive first listening experience, Mike Stringer (guitar), Josh Gilbert (bass) and Zev Rose (drums) enter the room to say hello. When Courtney LaPlante (vocals) runs in five minutes later, she is swarmed, as the outpouring of love, gratitude and appreciation takes over. The experience is but a glimpse of the community Spiritbox have already fostered in the UK alone – and in just under five hours’ time, it’ll be multiplied by a factor of 200.
Alexandra Palace. 10,000 people. When Spiritbox played two nights at London’s Roundhouse in July 2023, the natural, safe step to follow would be Brixton Academy. Perhaps Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo. “We didn’t think we could sell this show out, I’ll be honest” admits a humble LaPlante on stage later tonight. But the risk was taken, and the show sold out before ‘Tsunami Sea’ had even been officially announced. After all, when have Spiritbox ever played it safe?
Coming along for the ride are Stray From The Path and Periphery, confirming tonight as celebration of heavy music past and present. Stray vocalist Andrew Dijorio is an undying beacon of raw power, bounding around the stage and demanding 100 crowdsurfers for jagged new single ‘Kubrick Stare’ – which is arguably the pick of the bunch. Short and sweet, their set leans tactfully on ‘Euthanasia’ (2022) material, although the exclusion of ‘First World Problem Child’ perhaps robs Ally Pally of the chance to scream “Shut the fuck up!” in unison.
From the get-go, Periphery sound ten tonnes louder when the obliteration of opener ‘Wildfire’ kicks in. The djent icons flex their technical muscles and sonic unpredictability that bridges the gap perfectly between the energy of Stray and the incoming class that Spiritbox tend to exude.
Now, it’s time for the biggest show of their lives. When the white curtain drops, and Spiritbox are unveiled, the crowd are sent into an instant state of ear-piercing shock by the live debut of ‘Fata Morgana’, the top secret opener from ‘Tsunami Sea’. It’s stank faces galore all around the room, as Stringer’s pulverising riff makes for an even filthier entrance than ‘Cellar Door’, the GRAMMY-nominated track which had been previously serving as their staple opener.
That does follow soon after, before the meandering, multi-faceted ‘Jaded’ reaffirms why their 2023 EP ‘The Fear Of Fear’ grew into something far beyond their control. While expectations and pressure remain through the roof for the follow-up to 2021 debut ‘Eternal Blue’, the organic creation of that EP (along with 2022’s ‘Rotoscope’) showcased Spiritbox at the apex of their powers, juggling the soft with the brutal in a similarly masterful manner tonight.
While all ‘Tsunami Sea’ material is being performed for the first time in the UK, ‘Perfect Soul’ stands tall as the standout tonight. Carrying a heaven-sent aura about it, LaPlante falls to her knees for the stripped-down outro, a rare lump-in-your-throat moment after the pulverising heaviness that opened proceedings. A glitchy intro theme straight out of Bring Me The Horizon’s book introduces ‘The Void’, which disguises its dark subject matter with its bouncy, summery pace.
“This next song reminds me of when we first came to London,” says LaPlante right before ‘Eternal Blue’, as the band’s faces are wired up with electrical signals in the backdrop. Three daunting screen panels back up Rose’s kingly lifted drum kit, often catching the eye through spooky, harsh imagery that appears to have been conceptualised from scratch for this tour.
The least intricate however, are the white circles that warn us of the imminent ‘Circle With Me’ – now comfortably the band’s biggest song. When LaPlante hands over to the crowd, “This could all be yours” sends goosebumps around Ally Pally – quite possibly the loudest that lyric has ever sounded – overlooked by a vast blue church structure.
Inviting two fans named Tate and Reece on stage from the wings, LaPlante facilitates a heartwarming marriage proposal, adding to the wholesome feel about the personable culture surrounding this band. “We all feel so at home. We’re finally with our people,” she adds, staring out into the product of their immense graft on the road – where they have opened up for KoRn, Bring Me The Horizon and Ghost.
But now, Spiritbox are coming into their own – their definitive, bone-crushing heaviness exposed for all to see, atop one of London’s most iconic stages. “I don’t know if I ever want to know what this band is,” poses LaPlante, embodied by the fact they can switch from the industrial sexiness of ‘Rotoscope’ to the sucker punch to the face that is ‘Holy Roller’.
For such simple words, however, they hold so much weight. Despite the pressure and burden of expectation, Spiritbox have managed to stay true to their instincts and merely open the door to what this band could become. Alongside the theatrics of Sleep Token, the savegery of Knocked Loose and Bad Omens’ world-building, the atmospheric, chameleonic heaviness of Spiritbox puts them right in line with the other acts who will – and already have started to – define the 2020s.
While a heartfelt, momentarily acoustic rendition of ‘Constance’ sees out proceedings with a showering of confetti, tonight confirms that there’s no looking back for Spiritbox. Their music was destined to belong in arenas, and that permanent home is already on the horizon. With ‘Tsunami Sea’, their shining star might just supernova.
