As tonight’s headliners 4 Non Blondes are getting close to hitting the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire stage, the crowd has thickened a little bit. It is a shame that it is not as full as one would expect, but we are in the middle of an unprecedented heatwave, as well as a football World Cup.
4 Non Blondes
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 24 June 2026
Words: Bogdan Bele
Photography: Manuela Langotsch
Having not played London in three decades does build expectation, but also reduces some of the interest.
Well, 4 Non Blondes had a good excuse for it. Not only did they not play on these (usually rainy) shores. They stopped existing as a band altogether. But that is not what is important right now. They are back and, if tonight’s setlist is any indication, they will be here for a while.
The crowd is a combination of people who have obviously seen them the first time around, some with their kids in tow, as well as new fans.
Personally, I am here because Bigger, Better, Faster, More!, their only album to date, is in that category of albums that I liked a lot in my teenage years, and that I came back to from time to time. And one that I never ended up finding annoying, immature, or in the “How could I have ever listened to that?!” category.
I pretty much found it a very good record, and do so to this day.
Truth be told, 4 Non Blondes, with their massive hit What’s Up?, were the most ’90s, MTV thing you could ever imagine. Yes, Spaceman was also pretty popular back then, but it was always THAT SONG that people associate them with.
And then they disappeared, with singer Linda Perry making a great career as a songwriter and producer. Look it up, you will be surprised at the number of pop hits she wrote and produced. Enough to mention Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful. Not Metal, but you know that one.
As for 4 Non Blondes, they returned, for one gig, in 2014. And then silence again, until the proper one, kicked off last year, when they started playing shows. This time it seems like the real thing, with new music promised.
A kid’s voice, presumably Linda’s (later to make an appearance on stage), announces them, and they simply come on. Like a total blast from the past, they start with Train, from that only record. They sound great, and Linda Perry, of course, wearing a hat, seems to be in fine voice.
What happens afterwards is what is most interesting, though. Instead of playing those presumably well-known to the crowd tracks from the album, they do the opposite. They play a show almost exclusively made up of new tracks.
To me, that shows confidence, first of all. Then, it is a sign of another thing. That this is a band with a future, not one stuck in its past. If they reunited, they have done it to evolve, not to remain in the exact same place.
At one point, the frontwoman does say that there is another reason for this. The songs played need to make sense to the person she is today. And some of the old ones do not.
There are some very interesting moments. Let You Down is nice and heartfelt. The song, written for Courtney Love, who “Wasn’t capable at the time” (Perry), also sounds very good.
The same lineup from when the band broke up is present on stage. Perry, on voice and guitar, plus Christa Hillhouse on bass and backing vocals, Roger Rocha on guitar, and Dawn Richardson on drums. They are joined by Nick Maybury on guitar, introduced as a frequent collaborator by the singer.
But the new, or not recorded, songs make for a very good evening of music. Push & Shove, present somewhat on social media, is catchy and with a nice punk feel, and there is even some old material, never recorded, that gets played.
There is another beautiful moment as Spaceman gets played, for the first time on this tour. The reaction of the crowd, despite the large amount of new material, is very good. They probably feel that it is a band that feels renewed and really loves being on that stage.
They finish the regular set, but do return for a glorious What’s Up, sung by the whole venue, including even Linda conducting some audience chanting. It ends with Hollow, as well as the hope that 4 Non Blondes might be back to stay for a while.
Lucia & The Best Boys
Tonight’s openers play to maybe half the room. The Scottish band obviously have stage experience, so what we get tonight is a coherent set, with very good vocals and stage presence from the titular Lucia.
Their indie rock sound gets a pretty good reaction from the ones already present. The songs, and especially the voice, have this ethereal dimension to them that is perfect to close one’s eyes and dream to, especially as you come into a nicely cooled concert hall from the still very hot evening.
