Photo + Words: Nikisha Garrett
Returning to Oxford for the first time in nine years, The Amazons delivered a colourful, long-awaited return to the city’s O2 Academy on Saturday 26th September as part of their 21st Century Fiction: Epilogue tour.
Emerging indie alt-rock band Saint Clair kicked off the evening. Their performance, paired with the weekend buzz in the room and anticipation for The Amazons’ return, ensured the venue was already overflowing with energy before the band stepped onto the stage.
Delivering a set that blended fan favourites, including ‘In My Mind’ and ‘Ultraviolet’, with tracks from 21st Century Fiction, The Amazons connected with the audience immediately. Moving effortlessly between familiar classics and the band’s new era, Matt Thomson’s compelling vocals and Ella McRobb’s melodic tone powerfully blended, entrancing the room.
The band delivered a powerful instrumental performance throughout, with drummer George Le Page, guitarist Chris Alderton, and bassist Elliot Briggs bouncing off each other and adding momentum that was contagious across the crowd.
The connection between the audience and the band remained evident as they spoke with the crowd and shared anecdotes behind the songs. Sharing the journey of co-writing the 2025 release ‘One Hot July’ with McRobb, Thomson allowed the audience insight into the track’s background, describing the song’s premise as the tension and sweat of the hottest summer imaginable, combined with the lust you feel for someone “you really want to have sex with”.
Their set included 2017 classic ‘Junk Food Forever’; for which the band invited the audience into the performance, encouraging them to kick off the track by chanting “yeah yeah yeah” before the room erupted into song. As one of their older tracks, its familiarity sparked an especially enthusiastic response from the crowd.
As their performance drew to a close, the band declared, “No encores tonight, Oxford, we’re just going to play right through, is that okay?” and were met with a roar of applause as the penultimate tune ended, before launching into the well-loved final song, ‘Black Magic’.
Cheers filled the room and arms flew into the air before the vocals began. The band continued to bounce off each other, forming a half-circle across the stage as they completed an elongated instrumental verse with precision and intensity that escalated the increasingly energetic sound.
The night ended on an electric high, a buzz in the air as the crowd soaked up the last of the performance. Hitting the song’s final note in unison before leaving the stage, Thomson threw his guitar above his head as the crowd broke into long, cheerful applause.
As the final note echoed through the room, The Amazons brought their long-awaited return to Oxford to a memorable close, certainly making their return worth the wait.
