Based in a North London shopping mall, the O2 Islington Academy is a small, no-frills venue with some super-friendly staff. Tonight it is hosting the Outstanding Tour, in support of the Japanese band Lovebites‘ fifth and most adventurous studio album, Outstanding Power, released earlier in the year. Rising from the ashes of their 2019 support slot with Dragonforce, Lovebites are now a well-established and popular Power Metal band.
Lovebites
O2 Academy Islington – 3 August 2026
Words: Sean Titley
Photography: Steve Ritchie
There is no support act tonight, so the crowd are left under darkened purple lighting to admire Haruna’s drum kit as the band complete their European Tour.
What stands out are the unusually large bronze Zildjian cymbals, floating like alien spaceships, above the chrome-plated steel drums and a star-shaped cymbal in the middle of it all, with Lovebites / HARUNA imprinted on it in a circle.
By the time Lovebites come on, the venue is packed to its 800 capacity, and the assembled fans are cranked up to fever pitch, which contrasts with their entrance. Uncertainly but with confidence, one by one the band emerge from a side curtain, initially seeming surprised to be on stage as the roar for the band erupts.
Swiftly, Haruna takes her seat, and the guitarists, Midori (guitar), Miyako (guitar/keyboard) and Fami (bass) take their positions with Asami (vocals) shouting “Come on London”.
From here on, the prescription the fans ordered is delivered in spades. Speed, astonishing musicianship, chant-along songs and Japanese Idol style presence, all delivered by a band, dressed in white, looking like a cross between a Swan Lake ballet troupe and a bridal party.
Kicking off with Castaway, the opening track from their new album, gets the fans singing along. Clearly they are not just here for the old classics but the new ones too.
Throughout the gig, the band have clearly defined on-stage personas.
Miyako is all seriousness and focused attention as fast notes and scales, up and down the fretboard, shower the crowd. Midori, alternately smiling and super focused, forms the other half of the guitar maestros.
When they play their harmonised twin guitar duos, which they often do, they are a pair worthy of inclusion alongside Smith/ Murray, Downing/Tipton and probably most aligned with Hansen/Weikath.
Miyako and Midori are building on the shoulders of giants, with some riffs being very familiar, but they also have unique guitar phraseology with intriguing riffs that take you on new sonic journeys. It is beautiful to hear and a relief that when the classic twin guitar acts leave the stage, these talents are there to carry on the magic. Amongst all this, Miyako can also be seen playing keyboards. Such a talented group.
Fami draws in the eye with an infectious, beaming smile which almost never drops and a honky tonk style performance, settling slightly back from the rest of the band. But when bass takes the lead, the musicianship stands out as much as any of the virtuosic work of Miyako and Midori.
Guitars are ruling the roost tonight, but this is not to forget Haruna’s pounding, tight, high-energy drumming, which is the powerhouse engine of the machine and is equally intriguing and highly skilled but subordinated to building the sound stage on which the guitars can shine.
Asami’s voice complements the other instruments perfectly live, and her skill in connecting with the crowd is exceptional. Constantly engaging not just with the upstairs and downstairs of the venue but spotting individuals reacting to their music and copying them and pointing to them to let them know she has seen them, making as many fans as possible have a special, unique moment.
This is all complemented with the usual exhortations to jump, chant and throw devil’s fingers but also some unusual quirks of her own with balletic waves of the arm and forming hearts with her fingers to the crowd. The band connect too, waving and pointing, but Asami has the time, charisma and skill to make all feel included.
Each band member is extraordinarily talented, but together they are more than the sum of their parts.
The set continues with more songs from their new album, including Blazing Halo, Reapers Lullaby and One Will Remain.
Asami introduces Reapers Lullaby with “You’re not asleep, are you?” This is an extraordinary song, combining power, Thrash and Black Metal in equal parts, making an instant Speed Metal classic. The band play it with the lighting producing blackened silhouettes, headbanging all the way.
The crowd react accordingly, although the night is remarkable for a lack of mosh or circle pits. I am at a loss to explain this, as songs like MDO and Reapers Lullaby in particular are built for total mayhem.
That is not to say the fans do not react energetically. They do, punching the air and shouting along. Possibly it was just too packed in the centre, but I’ve never seen this stop a mob before. Maybe Asami simply needs to tell the pit to pit.
Lovebites now have a full set of classics from their career. All go down a storm, with Liar standing out when the three guitarists play together front of stage with a triple guitar medley. You have to include MDO, with its tearing intensity and repeated chant sung by each member of the band in turn, and Stand and Deliver played as a funky, sing-along song, in this classic list too.
The night ends with a medley of the three most poignant songs of the set, One Will Remain, When Destinies Align, and We the United, binding the crowd together and all beaming with joy.
Tonight was a combination of kawaii (cute) and kakkoii (cool, stylish, badass) in a performance combined with phenomenal musicianship.
BABYMETAL blew the doors off for Japanese Metal acts. But Lovebites might just be the greatest band from the wave of Japanese Metal that is crashing onto UK shores.
