Live Review: White Lies - Roundhouse, London 01/02/2026
White Lies and She’s In Parties kickstarted February with a blistering display of 80s-inspired sounds at London’s Roundhouse.
For the headliners, on their biggest European tour to date, this was their second of two homecoming shows across the weekend – this time with upcoming quartet She’s In Parties in support.
Hitting the stage at 8 o’clock, Katie, Herbie, Charlie and Matt tore into ‘Fallen’, the opening track from their November EP ‘Are You Dreaming?’ The brooding atmospheric sound was the first of four songs from that release in their half-hour set, quickly followed up by the title track, which continued the pleasant pop vibe.
Their 80s feel is sonically placed to soundtrack a dark, wet evening, like it was on the Chalk Farm Road outside before heading inside the iconic venue.
Leading into ‘The Man’, singer Katie asked the crowd “Who’s ready to boogie?” Her stage presence was captivating, including tambourine use, synths and guitar playing – a real Swiss Army knife of a frontwoman, capped by her expressionistic mannerisms. She was able to build off the cool vibe of bassist Charlie, the steady beat of drummer Matt and Herbie’s classic lead guitar, building towards something big, loud and arena ready – especially ‘L Word’ and ‘R.E.M.’.
They closed on ‘Velveteen’, a continuation of the impressive mood, with Katie happy dancing as they brought their time to a dark finish, before the quartet posed for a crowd photo, crowning their bucket list moment. She’s in Parties are one to watch for the future.
White Lies started promptly with last year’s ‘All The Best’, but their professionalism was quickly tested. A medical emergency in the crowd forced them to restart the track, with frontman Harry telling the Camden crowd: “It’s one of my favourites. It’d be a shame not to play it.”
The homecoming show got firmly back on track at the former Victorian railway shed, with two classics containing related lyrics. First, the repeated refrain of “there’s no place like home” in ‘Farewell To The Fairground’, with lighting and members in monochrome except for the singer’s bright green top. Then ‘There Goes Our Love Again’, where he sings “I didn’t go far, and I came home”. Introducing the latter, Harry said: “We’re going to try and make tonight even better than last night.”
White Lies have been going for so long, that this year marks the 10th anniversary of their fourth album ‘Friends’, which Harry marked ahead of ‘Don’t Want To Feel It All’ and ‘Is My Love Enough’ from the record. Entirely unintentional, but entering February, it really hits home how many White Lies songs contain Love in the title or lyrics – recently adding to it with ‘My Lover’ on the expanded version of ‘Night Light’, which was also performing, showing off the slappy guitar sound that worked through the standard album too.
The live set-up is effective, centred around the main trio, frontman Harry, bassist Charles and drummer Jack, placed in front of four light boxes. Additional musician Tommy was placed out to the left from the crowd’s perspective, bolstering the band’s typical bold and cinematic style.
Being the ‘Night Light’ tour, with the name emblazoned on Jack’s drumkit, the new album offered some highlights, which seamlessly fit in next to the greatest hits. The studio version of ‘Going Nowhere’ is very Talking Heads-coded, but the live version took sonic inspiration from David Bowie. The repeated refrains are catchy – “like a giant in Japan or a sieve in the sea, going nowhere” – and it deserved a better reception from the crowd. Meanwhile ‘Juice’, one of the more anthemic elements of last year’s album, crossed over onto the stage perfectly.
As for the old, ‘The Price Of Love’ returned to the tour setlist for the first time since the 10-year celebration of their debut album at the end of 2019. It was dedicated to Ed, an early adopter and “a father figure of the band”. There was a barrage of technicolour lights for ‘Tokyo’, and a festival-like reaction to ‘Big TV’, even before Harry demanded: “London, get your hands up”. The main set ended on ‘Bigger Than Us’, showing the huge ambition of the band, far beyond the capacity of the Roundhouse.
Two more ‘Night Light’ tracks sandwiched the encore. The title track started calmly before erupting into an energetic cacophony towards the end, despite an awkward tech glitch making it sound a little strange. “We should have bought PCs when we bought Macs”, Charles joked afterwards.
The live approach to writing the latest record came across in the finale, album closer ‘In The Middle’. It’s driven by a cool bassline from Charles, as Harry impressed his vocals upon the London crowd for one last time.
Ultimately, it showed that the latest body of work can complement their greatest hits, like their signature tune ‘Death’, the penultimate song on the night, and a damn good highlight for White Lies to call upon, 17 years after the release of their first album.
Ahead of the final song Harry thanked the crowd. “We’ve been doing this for so long. There’s no guarantee of longevity.” The gratitude is shared by the fans too, as anthem after anthem filled the hour and 50 minutes from start to end. White Lies capture the moment with loud singable and yellable tracks that are dark and fun too. It’s setting White Lies up well for mainland Europe next, and whatever lies beyond that.
Words by Samuel Draper
