KEO – CHALK, BRIGHTON 29.9.26 (EVENING SHOW)
In a world of bot algorithms, TikTok virality and industry plants, Keo’s rise through a sea of alt-rock up-and-comers has been refreshingly old-school. From selling out Hackney’s Oslo with no music released in early 2025 to selling out their March 2027 show at O2 Academy Brixton within days, they’ve built a die-hard following through deep connections with fans and a willingness to play anywhere from car parks to pubs. Keo are just as comfortable busking as they are on prestigious stages, without either feeling like a gimmick: their home seems to be in front of an audience of any size.
This makes their run of outstore shows in collaboration with record stores all the more special: it’s unlikely you’ll ever go to a ticketed event of theirs this small again, a testament to the consistent strength of Resident’s booking team.
Shouts of “Keoooo” fill a room of under-30s. Many wear Kangol hats, cosplaying as frontman Finn Keogh, confirming the influence he now has on these rooms. Move over, Grian Chatten and Jacob Slater: a new frontman is here to be idolised to the point of imitation by 20-somethings.
As the Chalk venue lights drop and their usual walk-on track, The Stone Roses’ ‘Love Spreads’, fills the speakers, the band arrive. Thunderous debut album opener ‘Be Happy’ instantly earns singalongs – an impressive feat for a project barely a week old, even earning smatterings of moshing from an eager room. ‘Pistol’ drops the tempo slightly, then builds into a wall of ferocious guitars to back an agonising chorus of “And I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
Rattling through their debut across a one-hour set, Keo keep crowd interaction to a minimum, even as shouts and whistles still rise from an audience that seems to feel every single word of Finn’s love-gone-sour angst. Cardboard signs enter the fray, with one reading “Play Crow” – a SoundCloud-only cut from 2024, not played since March. With an album to promote, requests are ignored – the droning discordance of ‘Best I Can Do’ continues the self-flagellating despair. “I don’t want to sing this alone”, Keogh states before the doomy reverb of ‘Thorn’ seeps out of the speakers, inspiring shouts of “I thought I knew you.”
Guitars ring out between tracks, leaving no room for reflection. A consistent wall of sound never allows a moment of silence, keeping the crowd in constant tension, ready to detonate. While ‘Spent On You’ drops the mood slightly, it weaponises quiet-loud dynamics to smack you with a chorus drenched in distorted guitar, while ‘Loser’ seems utterly resigned, with sharp guitars swallowed by delay and feedback shrieking in pain in the background. Tensions rise in the room – the audience wants to move. The R.E.M.-referencing mosh-pit opener ‘That’s Me’ plays fast and loud, erupting into circle pits and shouts of “That’s me in the corner.”
The room, now marinating in sweat, finds a moment of calm and reflection in ‘Blue Song,’ with more sustained guitar notes ringing in the background. There’s a constant sense of shrill anxiety, reflecting racing thoughts before Finn’s vocals roar into life with the rest of the band, turning a softer moment from the album into an enormously cathartic exorcism. Closing on the Pearl Jam-indebted thump of ‘Black Dress’, Keogh is bright red, sweating and releasing everything into these tracks. There’s a sense of symbiosis; Finn treats the audience as a therapist, while they recognise themselves in every word he spits out.
Feedback rings out of the speakers as the band leaves the stage, only drowned out by the obligatory shouts of “one more song.” As the volume rises to deafening levels, they come back. Clean guitar strokes signal their debut single ‘I Lied, Amber’ – a fuzzed-up, pummelling back-to-the-start moment, soundtracking mates getting on each other’s shoulders. An acknowledgement of trust issues, its vulnerability set the tone for everything that followed. Ending their set where they began, the song almost feels like a goodbye to their opening chapter. With just two dates left on their outstore tour and their self-produced debut ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ in the running for UK number 1, Keo no longer feel like the cult band building up a riotous live following: they’re now far bigger than the rooms they cut their teeth in.
Keo:
Finn Keogh – vocals, guitar
Conor Keogh – bass
Oli Spackman – drums
Jimmy Lanwern – guitar
Keo setlist:
‘Be Happy’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Pistol’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Best I Can Do’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Thorn’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Spent On You’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Only We Know’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Loser’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘That’s Me’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Blue Song’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
‘Black Dress’ (from 2026 ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ album)
(encore)
‘I Lied, Amber’ (from 2025 ‘Siren’ EP)
