Electric Ballroom, London, 26/09/25
Now, this is how you stage a comeback.
Just over a year since they first revealed that their classic line-up was back and doing what it does best, tonight in Camden Town feels like as perfect a full-circle moment as there is for As It Is. Six years ago, the band played just metres up the road from tonight’s venue, the Electric Ballroom, in the heart of the famous market at Dingwalls, a show serving as a fond farewell for guitarist Ben Biss. But where that night served as a tear-stained wave goodbye, now, in retrospect, with a real air of uncertainty about what the future would really hold, tonight is a rejuvenation. Because this is a family reunion, an emotional outpouring, a career-spanning retrospect and a fork in the road for what is to come, all rolled into one.
There was a time when this didn’t feel possible. But it’s happening, and you can tell that it means the world to a whole load of people.
But before all that, Artio warm things up nicely with just as much to celebrate. Fresh off the announcement of their sophomore record, ‘Soul Rot’, earlier in the day, they are in fine and fierce form. New rager ‘The Devil You Know’ slots into the chaos beautifully, whilst ‘Product of My Own Design’ and ‘Split Soul’ get the blood pumping in seriously savage style. A true cementing of their status as one of the UK’s shiniest new stars yet again.
When it comes to As It Is, though, they are making sure that everything is covered, and that comes in the form of not one, but two complete sets.
First up is ‘Never Happy, Ever After’ from front to back, and from the moment that the room erupts to ‘Speak Soft’, the first of many deafening sing-alongs, you can tell just how much it means to all those assembled here. These youthfully vibrant and gorgeously heart-wrenching tracks, a perfect summation of everything that UK pop-punk represented a decade ago, feel all the more pertinent tonight.
Much of that comes from the realisation that both band and fan have grown together alongside these songs. That in the last decade, so much life has been lived and so many lessons have been learnt, yet everyone has still managed to find each other here, to show each other just how much has changed. It means that the likes of ‘My Oceans Were Lakes’ and ‘Silence (Pretending’s So Comfortable)’ feel like moments of triumph rather than heavy-hearted ballads, whilst ‘Sorry’ and ‘Concrete’ are now total pit-spinning anthems instead of just chest-grabbing emotional admissions.
Such a transformation isn’t lost on the band either; each of them beams from ear to ear, bearing witness to how their creation has affected so many lives in so many different ways, and how, even all these years later, it continues to live a life of its own. If that wasn’t already obvious, a spine-tingling ‘Dial Tones’ really rams the fact home.
The second part of this all-encompassing celebration delves into the rest of the As It Is story, revealing and reminding all here just how crushing things became over the years. ‘Soap’ and ‘No Way Out’, serving as representation from 2017’s ‘okay.’ brim with caustic feeling, whilst the post-hardcore grit of ‘The Reaper’ and ‘The Handwritten Letter’ showcase how wonderfully indulgent and punishing 2018’s ‘The Great Depression’ could be. More than anything, every new reveal feels fun. And fun is a huge factor in all of this. Patty Walters even admits how serious everything used to be the first time round, but now is the time to be the opposite, and this is all before an acoustic cover of The Calling’s ‘Wherever You Will Go’.
Such a statement is vital for where the band are personally right now, too. Off the back of the release of new track ‘Lose Your Way & Find Yourself’ earlier this month, slotting beautifully into the band’s repertoire here and being delivered alongside an inspiration dance routine with music video star Kate Hannah, it’s a reminder of just how important it is for all of us to not settle for where we are if it’s not making us shine. Sometimes you have to ask the hard questions to get the answers you want. That patience, understanding and unrequited love will always reap the most wondrous of rewards if you let them in.
If As It Is are going to do all of this again, an adventure they have dedicated 13 years to at this point, then you can see that they are going to do it right. And that means letting everything unfold as it is intended to, loving every moment while it’s happening, and making sure that those who are doing it with them are appreciated.
All of those things appear to wash over Patty, Ben, Ali and Foley several times throughout tonight’s masterclass, the joy of getting to share their music in this way again hanging heavy on their minds. And that is never more crystal clear than during the curtain-closing combo of ‘The Great Depression’, ‘The Wounded World’ and ‘The Stigma (Boys Don’t Cry)’, which sees the floor swell with flying bodies and voices hitting heady new heights.
A fitting end to a career-defining display, this is the most comfortable, confident and categorically brilliant that As It Is have ever been. A beautiful honouring of their past, delivered in a way that sets up their future in a truly exciting way, showcasing the full sum of their powers in screaming colour. The start of something special, as well as a reminder of why this band has always been special at the very same time.
“I know I’ve said it before, but we are so fucking back,” Patty surmises whilst fighting back a tear, and you would be hard-pressed to disagree with him.
