Live Review: Biig Piig - Roundhouse, London 27/02/2025
It’s been seven years of hard work, but Biig Piig got to celebrate her debut album 11:11 with a sold-out show at London’s Roundhouse on Thursday.
The Irish-born, Spanish-raised, London-based artist Biig Piig, also known as Jessica Symth, is somewhat of an endless pool of talent. She has effortlessly glided through genres and languages, creating a sound that is very much her own. Despite only now releasing her debut album, her discography is impressive – having worked with artists like Lava La Rue, Metronomy, Kojaque and Emotional Oranges to name a few. She’s also part of the UK alt hip-hop collective, NiNE8.
With her creativity and unique sound, Biig Piig has worked hard to build herself a large, global audience, so a sold-out show shouldn’t be a surprise. Yet surprised she was when she took to the stage on Thursday evening, laughing in disbelief, “London, we sold out fuckin’ Roundhouse” while the crowd showered her with praise from below. As if to prove to herself, and her fans, that she had earned the right to be there, the pop star proceeded to put on one hell of a show.
Before she set the stage alight, however, Biig Piig had a stellar lineup of opening acts, all close friends, who had the task of warming up the crowd. First out was Londoner Rosa Cecilia, whose music is a blend of blues, jazz and pop. She’s the only one on the stage, but her presence feels large, interacting with the crowd between songs, Gold Chains and Wade in the Fire, before introducing two unreleased tracks, Ordinary Guy and Up Late – stating that the prior was written because she keeps “dating crazy guys.” Fans of Jorja Smith and Kali Uchis would warm to her like a moth to a flame.
Ledbyher, a self-produced artist from Norwich is second in line for the warm-up – and is joined by her older sister and best friend on stage for the duration of the set. The scene is nostalgic of a childhood practising dance routines and writing music in your bedroom with your best mates. Ledbyher is charismatic, looks as if she is enjoying every single minute of it, and in between performances of LEECHES and DAYDREAMING MADE ME BLUE, she tells the crowd the story of how she met Biig Piig. She snuck backstage to her greenroom at a festival a few years prior. While she actively discourages the crowd from following in her footsteps, she’s proof that having a “don’t ask, don’t get” attitude is necessary if you want to make it in this industry.
The final act before Biig Piig was fellow NiNE8 member Mac Wetha, who put on a seismic thirty-minute DJ set that had the Roundhouse resembling London’s fabric on a Saturday night. Under hazy blue and purple lights, the crowd filled up the old railway shed to full capacity. A sea of bodies swarming, loose limbs and sweaty foreheads, ready for the grand finale – Biig Piig.
Smyth runs onto the stage to a chorus of cheers, followed by her drummer and her bassist/saxophonist, opening the impressive 22-song set with 4AM, the opening track to 11:11. She’s a vision, moving effortlessly across the stage as she performs – taking only a brief moment to soak in the crowd, the cheers, the waves from those in the front row before performing This Is What They Meant.
The crowd offer their backing vocals during Perdida, “I just wanna lay here / smoke my cigarette and drink my wine” a track that showcases Biig Piig’s talents as she floats between English and Spanish, the transition flawless. She keeps the pace slow as she performs I Keep Losing Sleep and Shh back to back, looking angelic as her hair billows out behind her. The wave of people below her knows what’s coming when she announces “autotune is out, which means we’re gonna rage” her voice already distorted, there’s a buzz of anticipation. The intro to Picking Up starts, and her devout crowd parts like a sea to make space for Biig Piig, who climbs down into the middle of it. It’s an ocean, waves of people around her, all the bodies moving as one as she sings “think I might take a trip / for just a moment / I need something to give me serotonin.” In this instance, she is that something, taking her audience on an unforgettable trip.
The Irish artist’s discography is rather endless, but she dedicated some time to her debut 11:11, with One Way Ticket and Brighter Day. One Way Ticket stirs a pot of emotions, as hands are held, and arms are thrown around shoulders while Smyth croons “people come and go / but you’re never alone.” She addresses her audience before performing the final track of the album –the loss of relationships is always hard, change is inevitable, but “the people in your life are important” regardless. People hold their friends and loved ones closer, swaying together as the snare of the drum begins and the Smyth starts “hoping that tomorrow’s sun might bring a brighter day.”
It was a night full of special guests as Mac Wetha, long-time friend and collaborator Lava La Rue and the “Prince of Dublin”, Kojaque all made appearances. The energy in the room and on the stage was indescribable when Lava La Rue joined her for Hi-Fidelity, the close friends jumping up and down, covering every inch of the stage with their presence. Smyth dedicated Favourite Girl, a clear fan favourite, to all of the “gorgeous girls” in the crowd, clearly feeding off of the energy from her audience – bouncing across the stage in a haze of pink lighting. It’s all flashing lights as she performs Decimal, a roar of appreciation being heard from the crowd when the beat drops, Smyth dancing along, energy unwavering, never-ending. The penultimate song of the evening, Switch, sees her running up and down the stage, high knees, screaming into her mic, the crowd throwing themselves around under green and white lights. Despite performing for over an hour already, Biig Piig doesn’t appear to have broken a sweat, she’s thriving off of this. Loving every single moment of it.
The appreciation she had for her fans, the gratitude she had for this moment, was evident throughout the entire set, but before she wrapped things up with It Feels Right, she made sure to speak her gratitude out loud. She thanked the audience, her crew, and her family who were somewhere in the crowd watching, one can only assume absolutely brimming with pride.
The air felt electric when Biig Piig appeared for her encore, performing Kerosene. There was an emotional embrace between herself and her band at the end of it as the crowd cheered, the place vibrating with applause.
A big night for Biig Piig, seven years in the making, as she cemented herself as a one-of-a-kind artist.
Words by Angela English
Photography by Sam Strutt
