LIVE REVIEW: Scene Queen @ O2 Academy Islington, London

The last time SCENE QUEEN played a headline show in London in May 2022, it was to just over 100 people. As she takes to the stage tonight at O2 Academy Islington, the 800 capacity is a major step-up. Thanks to a mixture of viral success on social media apps, such as TikTok, as well as coining the genre ‘Bimbocore’, which is a mixture of hyperfeminine pop and metalcore. On paper, this sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially as online success is like lightening in a bottle. However, SCENE QUEEN has defied the odds and broken out of that cliché. On the last night of her sold-out Bimbos, Beans and Toast tour, tonight proves how far SCENE QUEEN – real name Hannah Collins – has come in the last year and a half. And yet it also marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in her career.

DELILAH BON is the first support act. Whilst she might be best known for being the frontwoman in punk band HANDS OFF GRETAL, she is also an established singer in her own right. Her songs, including the heartbreaking War On Women, feel poignant in the current climate. However, it’s not all sadness, as she also plays songs such as I Don’t Listen To You, which is about reclaiming your body for your own self. The empowering anthems sound even more euphoric as the audience screams the lyrics back. It wouldn’t be surprising if the next time Delilah plays this venue, she’s the headliner.

Rating: 9/10

IN HER OWN WORDS are a rock band from Los Angeles, California, and are also the second support act for SCENE QUEEN. There is no denying their stage presence, as frontman Joey Fleming has the audience eating out of his palm. They open the set with Circles from their 2022 album Distance Or Decay. Despite their set being only seven songs long, they make sure to keep the audience entertained before the main event, including the use of phone lights to light up the venue during Steady Glow from the 2019 album of the same name. Closing out with Right Now, the band end on a high note, as the audience wait to catch their breath from all the dancing they’ve done during the set.

Rating: 9/10

By the time SCENE QUEEN comes onto the stage, the audience are hot with anticipation. They scream the lyrics of Pink Whitney from SCENE QUEEN‘s second EP, Bimbocore Volume 2, and don’t stop moving throughout the hour set. Despite only releasing two EPs so far in her career, there are a lot of songs for SCENE QUEEN to play, from the empowering new single Pink Push-Up Bra, unreleased song MILF and many fan-favourites, including Pink Paper, Pink G-String and Barbie & Ken, which Joey Fleming comes out for. In between the songs, there are two audience members who are picked out to become members of her sorority. As well as getting necklaces, the audience members also look out for others in the crowd.

However, what is most special about this night is the solidarity that is shown, especially to women and the LGBT community, especially with songs such as 18+, which is about calling out people who abuse their power in the music scene, and Pink Panther, which is about women falling in love with other women. It is also the song that closes the set. It turns into a huge party, complete with plastic balls being thrown into the audience and several audience members crowd surfing in the inflatable paddling pools that were used to hold the plastic balls in. Although SCENE QUEEN is full of self-depreciating humour about her success that runs throughout the show, there is also a lot of heart put into the show. She truly cares about her fans, and there is nothing more empowering that a singer who inspires others to look out for each other and to be the best version of who they are. After tonight, one thing is clear: the venues are only get bigger in size for SCENE QUEEN as more and more fans discover the world of ‘Bimbocore’ for themselves.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in London from Karolina Janikunaite here: 

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