The Molotovs / South Street – O2 Academy, Birmingham – 24.09.2026 – Firing on all Cylinders!

First question of the day: why is the music played before and between bands always so bloody awful? Is it designed to make the bands sound better? Personally, give me a load of bangers blasted out at full volume to get the place fired up.

South Street are first up and there’s definitely something going on here. ‘Busybodies’ and ‘English Garden’ are the stand-outs — a great mix of Mod, rock, punk and Small Faces-style melody and attack with ska thrown in. The look is suitably old-school: Mod blazer, tie, school trousers and shoes, while the band itself is a slightly more ragged affair image wise (nothing wrong with that), complete with long-haired drummer and the one guitar they have that seems determined to go out of tune.

And then there’s the PA. Brain-meltingly loud, but at that perfect point where everything is crystal clear before starting to distort. Eventually it goes so far into the red that the feedback becomes a full-on sonic attack and South Street have to stop and restart the song. Somehow, it only adds to the occasion. Nice to see Matt and Issey from The Molotovs watching from the side, with both bands sharing the same drums — and the same sound mix.

Then The Molotovs hit the stage, and you can see why they’re making the next leap. They’ve got the look and are sickeningly photogenic :), the moves, the songs and the big-label backing with Marshall Records. But none of it has been handed to them. It’s been built through constant gigging, hard graft and playing everywhere they can. Now comes album number two, Urbia, and the opportunity to make it count.

I last saw The Molotovs supporting the Pistols and the live-wire energy is still there. It’s a 100mph set, all attitude and movement, and the O2’s relatively small stage suits them perfectly. Issey throws the shapes on the Rickenbacker bass like Gem from The Killjoys reincarnated and I’m sure Lemmy will be looking down from heaven with a smile. In fact, the whole band attacks the set with the kind of enthusiasm that makes standing still impossible.

A 21-song set, including eight tracks from Urbia and they finish off with a rip-roaring Suffragette City. As is often the case, the songs sound even better live, so the interesting question is whether the album can capture and bottle that energy. Judging by tonight, they’ve got plenty to work with.

Everyone got their money’s worth. The Molotovs are moving up another gear — and the future looks pretty damn exciting.

Trivia question of the day: What’s the connection between The Molotovs and old-school punk rockers Menace? Apart from the letter ‘M’, obviously…

Pre-order the album Welcome to Urbia here

---

---