Keo’s sold-out Camden shows prove that the hype is real

Written by Sacha Price

Selling out two nights at Camden’s historic Electric Ballroom would be a dream for any young guitar band. For Keo, this felt almost natural, serving as confirmation that the rapid momentum building around their sound is only going to grow.

Keo performing to a sold-out crowd at Camden’s Electric Ballroom | Credit: Sacha Price

The 1,500-capacity venue was packed wall-to-wall, and from the beginning of the night, there was no doubt that the crowd had come for chaos. Fronted by Finn Keogh on vocals and guitar, alongside his brother Conor Keogh on bass, with drummer Oli Spackman and guitarist Jimmy Lanwern, the band seem clearly intent on making their name a generational one.

Irish openers Bleech 9:3 set the tone from their first track. The four-piece looked as striking as they sounded; arriving with bright hair colours and a clear confidence, their gritty, guitar-heavy set landed immediately with the crowd, which was largely populated by die-hard teen fans and alt-rock lovers.

By the time they launched into their closing track ‘Ceiling’, the floor had already erupted into several restless mosh pits. Even their unreleased tracks ‘Tourniquet’ and ‘No Surprise’ were met with loud singalongs from the packed-out venue, suggesting they are quickly becoming one of the most exciting grunge-leaning alt-rock upcoming bands. For a support slot, the reaction was unusually immense – it’s arguable that the night felt more like a double-headline show.

When Keo finally arrived, with frontman Finn walking on stage in sunglasses and strapping on his guitar, the crowd tipped into a scramble of bodies. The thick guitar tones on opening track ‘Hands’ paired with Spackman’s heavy, pulsating drums and Keogh’s unflinching, rough-edged vocals turned the Ballroom floor into a surge of crowd surfers and mosh pits. Drinks were thrown overhead, and most of the audience seemed to spend the night bouncing between pits and chanting every lyric back to the stage.

Camden’s atmospheric crowd during Keo’s set | Credit: Sacha Price

Tracks like ‘Thorn’ were met with huge, noisy reactions, while the closing run of the setlist pushed things even further. Despite many songs still being unreleased, moody tracks like ‘Fly’ and the catchy ‘Spaceman’ had the entire room shouting along to every word. Hearing unreleased songs being greeted with that energy is a rare thing to see – Keo are clearly leaving their mark.

From the beginning of their rise, Keo have continually been compared to indie rock heavyweights Wunderhorse, largely because of their similar heavy guitar sound and Keogh’s emotionally raw vocal delivery. At times, the similarities are easy to hear, but moments in their set began to reveal their unique sound more clearly. The unreleased song ‘Best I Can Do’ in particular showed a group pushing beyond their early comparisons.

Keo closed with their igniting fan-favourite track ‘I Lied, Amber’ sending audience members up onto each other’s shoulders. These two gigs in the capital showed that Keo’s devoted following is already huge, and it’s only going to get louder for them. With their first EP Siren still relatively fresh after its release in June last year, Keo are still sitting on the edge of their beginning – but their live performances prove they are aiming for an ascent into festival-headlining status.