Inhaler finally claim their Brixton crown

Almost two years ago, Inhaler were set to play Brixton Academy for the first time. Fate interfered, and as the venue closure and ever-receding reopening date got in the way, their debut was indefinitely postponed. It ended up being a blessing and a curse; it’s not that they weren’t prepared in 2023. Their second album ‘Cuts & Bruises’ was primed and ready for massive rooms, but the iconic academy deserved Inhaler at their best. That’s exactly what they are right now.

It’s immediately obvious that their confidence on this album cycle is at a 10 when they open with previous set-closer and unrivalled biggest hit ‘My Honest Face’. It’s a bold choice, but one that pays off, setting off a chain reaction of relentless bangers even some ‘bigger’ bands can’t say they have in their arsenal.

With third full-length ‘Open Wide’ barely a week old, the setlist leans heavily on it, but it rattles through Brixton Academy with the kind of familiarity reserved for an album much more well worn in. Thanks in part to an audience who’ve no doubt been studying the lyrics (or at least streaming the songs until they’ve rocketed to the top of their On Repeat playlists) all week, but also simply because it translates so well live. Tracks like ‘Eddie in the Darkness’ and ‘Little Things’ already send guitars blaring through your earbuds but are amped up even further on the stage. Meanwhile, poppier cuts like ‘A Question Of You’ and ‘Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah)’ feel like stadium anthems.

Beyond the new additions, there’s nearly an equal number of tracks pulled from their debut ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’, proving further that Inhaler have been really good at this for quite some time. The traditions they’ve developed in those years of hard gigging still stand, like shouting the line “I fucking hate that bitch” from ‘My King Will Be Kind’, and pulling guitarist Josh Jenkinson to the front for his guitar solo in their debut’s title-track (which frankly, more bands should do; more guitar solos and spotlights on them please).

The few tracks played from ‘Cuts & Bruises’ are carefully selected, but it’s hard to imagine they’d ever go a show without performing consistent standout ‘Dublin in Ecstasy’. Lit in the Irish tricolour, it’s fast become one of their signature songs and is a set high, amplified by frontman Eli Hewson getting into the crowd for what fans have referred to as ‘getting Dublined’. This involves Eli asking them to sing a line in the bridge and subjecting them to some terrible patter in the process.

Still, the new material slides in perfectly alongside the established crowd-pleasers. When ‘Your House’ arrives to close out proceedings, it’s about as jubilant of an ending as you can get. And with another night to go, Inhaler easily conquer Brixton Academy for the first time, but it’s far from their peak. There’s a feeling these are the smallest headline shows Inhaler will be doing for a while.