Infinite Anxiety UK Tour, opening night: A sonic punch to the gut – and we loved it.
It’s taken me a while to find the words to summarise this gig, and frankly, I’m still recovering.
Before Viagra Boys even stepped on stage, the atmosphere inside Bournemouth’s O2 Academy was already electric. Opening the night were Boko Yout, a Swedish act blending Afro grunge with sheer theatrical brilliance. Dressed as if they’d stepped straight out of The Wild Thornberrys (iykyk), they had the crowd instantly on board. Their high octane set was full of surprises – from multiple band members diving into the crowd whilst still playing their instruments, to a fake medical emergency mid-song where the guitarist collapsed dramatically over a speaker, only for frontman Paul Adamah to smirk into the mic with a “gotcha” when the song ended. It was weird, wild and the perfect energy boost ahead of what was to come.
Then came the main event.
All the production crew were dressed in branded, Adidas-esque monochrome tracksuits featuring the VB yin-yang logo. A look that added to the immersive experience and created a sense of Viagra Boys cult following/world domination. If you were willing to part with £160, you could buy one at the merch stand and fully look the part yourself. A uniform of mayhem.
A laser carved out the band’s iconic VB logo, strobe lights flooded the stage and suddenly the pulsing intro of Man Made of Meat began to shake the walls.
From the first note, the crowd were hanging onto every word frontman Sebastian Murphy delivered – as always, shirtless, tattooed from neck to waist, gliding around the stage in trackies and socks. There was a beautiful contradiction in watching a heavily inked man dance with such fluidity – his movements elegant, loose-hipped, playful and magnetic. Think of a post-punk ballerina!
Seb kept a close eye on the crowd amidst the chaos. With multiple mosh pits and a flood of crowd surfers, he took a moment to look out for us: “Be careful with one another. Be safe. Drink water. And don’t be a f**king thief,” he warned, before launching into Ain’t No Thief – a perfectly timed transition that sent the room into chaos.
Sports still holds its crown as one of their most loved tracks. Every lyric was shouted back in perfect unison, the room bouncing like it did back in 2018 when the song first dropped on their debut album, Street Worms.
The setlist was stacked, but Research Chemicals was the true showstopper. Coming just before the encore, this six-minute monster transformed into something far bigger live. It felt like it lasted 20 minutes, in the best way possible. The lighting, lasers and sheer intensity made it more than a song, it was a full-blown sensory trip. I’m not sure I blinked the whole time as I didn’t want to miss a millisecond.
The set closed with a full band bow, the five of them soaking in the adoration from the sold out 1800 strong crowd.
As first nights go, this was a statement. Viagra Boys have never been a band to follow the rules and this show was a bold, sweaty, brilliant reminder of why their cult following only continues to grow.
During their set, Seb exclaimed: “Thanks to you, I have a job.”
And thanks to you, Seb, we’ve all just experienced a gig we’ll remember for a very, very long time.
