1 September 2026
The O2 Arena has seen icons of the music world perform across decades, but since it opened its doors it would have been hard pressed to find as much showmanship as what graced the stage on Sunday night.
Fresh from a brief guest appearance at All Points East alongside Tyler, The Creator on Saturday, it was A$AP Rocky’s turn in the limelight of North Greenwich. Before he arrived to an audience of adulation, anticipation was building thanks to a militia of disguised individuals, white T-Shirts wrapped around their heads, being signalled out by the lights of a helicopter suspended from the arena roof.
It was here that Rocky made his big entrance, running through the crowd towards the masked men, trailed by a SWAT team. He then proceeded to do the first chapter of his show in the midst of a frenzied crowd, before hanging off the helicopter to reveal himself to the masses.
It wasn’t long before he made use of a second chopper towards the main stage, posting up on the side of it whilst blimps flew around the rest of the arena. In terms of set design and the attention to detail that had gone into this stage show, this was a spectacle on a mind blowing scale.
On top of this, A$AP’s ability as a performer was not overpowered by the extra curriculars. Performing multiple songs from his latest album, ‘Don’t Be Dumb’, Rocky managed to unite fans old and new, working the crowd excellently throughout. This in turn was helped by the presence of his mysterious militia in the centre of the crowd, linking all parts of the arena as one.
Fan favourites ‘Praise The Lord’, ‘Everyday’, and ‘L$D’ rounded off what was a spectacular evening. Perhaps less lyrically memorable than some of his peers in his generation of rap, it is safe to say that no one in his class is delivering a stage show to this degree of creativity and bonafide artistry.
Photography by Pupat Chenaksara