The Nov. 21, 2019, gig was his largest to date.
One of the first acts to used livestreaming as a workaround to connect with fans during the COVID-19 lockdown, Yungblud channeled his frustration at not being able to tour right now by re-living one of his peak live performances with fans on Monday morning (April 13).
The Nov. 21, 2019, gig at the O2 Academy Britxon was the 22-year-old's biggest headlining gigs to date, and was performed in front of 5,000 rabid fans.
“I was getting so frustrated that I can’t play a show and connect to my fan base,” the singer said in a statement. "We were brainstorming ideas, and I remembered we had a bunch of people filming the Brixton show, so my team stayed up for a couple days editing it together. If we can’t go to a live show, I’m gonna bring one to them. This was one of the best nights of my life. A night that I wanted to relive with my fans once again."
The packed, high-energy gig drew an audience of more than 13,000 viewers, who filled the YouTube comments with their signature black heart emoji. Emerging from behind a transparent screen with his name scrawled across it, the singer stormed the stage waving a red "underrated youth" flag and an all-black outfit before diving into the rap/sung rager "21st Century Liability."
The 17-song set included such favorites as "I Love You, Will You Marry Me," "Anarchist," "Kill Somebody," a cover of his collab with pal MGK, "I Think I'm OKAY" and a version of his song with Marshmello and Black Bear, "Tongue Tied." There were also some pointed shots at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (well before his COVID diagnosis) during "King Charles," which featured a big kiss on the lips for the singer's guitarist and the entire crowd jumping up and down in unison.
The gig, which mixed the relentless pace of a punk show with hip-hop swagger and a touch of Oasis-like rock bombast included a bit in the middle in which an announcer claimed that Yungblud had escaped a mental asylum and was somewhere in the crowd. He, of course, appeared moments later as fans strained to snap a pic and he cranked up a stripped-down version of "Kill Somebody."
Yungblud has shared a series of rock and pop covers during his COVID-19 quarantine and during a March 16 livestream featuring MGK and Bella Thorne, was one of the first artists to dive into the lockdown livestream with his Yungblud Show variety special.
Watch Yungblud's Brixton show below.