On a sizzling hot evening in London’s Camden Town, ARIA Award-winning Angus & Julia Stone left a packed KOKO completely spellbound. The Sydney-born sibling duo are back with their seventh studio record Karaoke Bar on 4th September, its title track already released alongside Monroe and stoking excitement for the album’s arrival.
Angus & Julia Stone @ Koko
The audible hum of chatter in the iconic former theatre was suddenly pierced by a loud cheer from the front, as the stage became illuminated by flickering amber lights. The band took their places, with Angus and Julia following shortly after and opening the night with Losing You from 2024’s Cape Forestier. Their signature, enchanting harmonies flowed into Nothing Else from 2017’s Snow, with Julia’s angelic vocals leading the way before Angus joined in. All set against a purple, star-flecked backdrop.
“How you doing, London? It’s so good to be here!” Julia said gently, before explaining that the next track, Yellow Brick Road, was one Angus had written when she turned 30, its title now tattooed on her foot. It features on 2010’s Down the Way, the duo’s breakthrough second record that earned them their first number one album and five ARIA Awards and introduced their music to a global audience. It gave way to captivating banjo and harmonica solos and as Julia danced in a kaleidoscope of light during the extended guitar break, she appears to be hypnotised by their own music.
The uptempo beat of Private Lawns from 2006’s Chocolates and Cigarettes EP, along with Julia’s mellifluous vocals and plucky banjo chords goes down a treat and turns us into a happy, foot-tapping, whooping mass.
It is clear from the crowd’s reactions that Angus and Julia’s cinematic folk-pop means a lot to people. Monroe, released just a few days before the gig, feels like it has been with us for a while. A gauzy, emotional track that explores love and fragility and draws on evocative imagery of changing seasons and shifting tides, it was born when Angus & Julia were at the legendary Miraval Studios in the south of France.
In a truly British turn of events, the sounds of an alarm going off in the venue can be heard as the band are prepping and tuning. Thankfully, it is abruptly silenced just before Angus takes the lead on Grizzly Bear, from their 2014 Rick Rubin-produced album Angus & Julia Stone. Keyboardist Aaron Mendoza weaves in excerpts from Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, a moment that proves to be a crowd favourite as the siblings face each other and smile while the audience sings along.
With Julia harmonising beautifully in the background, Just A Boy from 2007’s A Book Like This, the duo’s first studio album, is a standout. It could be the heat, the 2000s nostalgia, or even England’s victory against DR Congo earlier that evening in the World Cup that creates a sense of magic, but we truly are all drunk upon their potion.
The siblings are humble and grateful between tracks, sharing interactions with the crowd and personal anecdotes. Angus says sweetly, “Ah thank you, London. I feel so lucky to be alive. I’m so lucky to travel the world with Julia. I learn so much from her, especially songwriting.” before introducing Wherever You Are from 2014’s Angus & Julia Stone.
A cover of Sam Smith’s Stay With Me is unexpected but beautiful, and Angus & Julia Stone’s music seems to float on its own languid wavelength. This is evident in the warm and wistful Karaoke Bar, the title track from the new album written on the Greek island of Hydra near Leonard Cohen’s former home, and 2010’s For You.
Angus & Julia Stone @ Koko
“London, thank you so much” says Angus, before launching into the enduring, era-defining Big Jet Plane, its popularity showing no signs of waning. The performance is momentarily paused due to a scrap breaking out on the main floor, but security steps in and breaks it up with minimal fuss. The siblings chuckle and say “Let’s start again!”, and no one seems remotely irked to hear it again from the top, especially the couple dancing as if they are the only ones there and a lone figure wiping away a tear.
The duo clearly have a strong emotional connection and an enigmatic bond, tightly woven into their music. Julia speaks warmly about her upbringing, her family and the ever-lasting friendship she has built with her brother for over 20 years, before the ethereal sounds of 2017’s Chateau fill the room.
The duo’s music has a dreamlike quality and, thankfully, there is an encore before we are rudely awakened. As Angus and Julia take the stage alone for the last time to leave us with Santa Monica Dream, from 2010’s Down the Way, you can almost hear a pin drop. A track about aching for another life and the promise of what if, what else and somewhere else, for a brief moment KOKO is hushed. As the siblings exit the stage, this time sadly for good, and a hot, buzzing crowd patiently spills out of KOKO, there’s some time to reflect.
Listening to Angus & Julia Stone’s music is like feeling the warmth of the sun in the winter. A welcome, gentle breeze. A woozy afternoon on some beautiful Greek island, somewhere. Picnicking in a park in Sydney. Nattering outside a pub, pint in hand, on a bustling London street. It’s a feeling that doesn’t leave when the lights come up. I hope it never does.
Live review of Angus & Julia Stone @ KOKO, London by Nicola Greenbrook / @nicolagreenbrook on 1st July 2026. Photography by Abigail Shii / @soundofapeach.
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