2hollis is born for the stage. He glides, he convulses, he jumps. Phones are glued to his every move. And the faces behind them? They contort, scream, side fringes bouncing with the bass. Fervent fans fervently dispute over what he should play next. But this frenzied reaction is no strange thing. The alternative pop artist has a reputation for manufacturing mania in his predominantly teenage audience. In the last year, he’s performed an incredible set at Coachella’s enviable sunset slot, dominated the stage at Lollapalooza and played an electric London debut at Heaven. His return to the capital on the final night of his UK tour, Star (named after his 2025 album), was no different.
For 2hollis has entirely captivated a TikTok generation. His fans, dressed in studded belts, ripped tights and furry legwarmers, boots, hoods, (the list goes on), echo the blend of subcultures that his music embodies. It would be impossible from the fashion alone to determine the artist’s sound identity — it’s ’90s grunge, it’s mid-2000s emo, it’s ’80s Furries turned Brat. It’s trance-like beats and wholesome pop.
There are scant parents around. Those who are ‘cooler’ take part in this cultural jumble, dragging out the shorts and leggings from their youth, marking their faces with the artist’s signature black stripe (one make-up tutorial recreating the look has over two hundred thousand views on TikTok). Others stand in the queue with their arms folded, chins to chest, bracing themselves against the cold and explosion of hyperpop yet to come.
The artist opens with ‘Flash’, unveiling an inflatable white tiger — inspired by his album of this same name — on stage, to an eye-fuck of a light show. Attention deficit is a stranger to this setting. Though it’s not all heavy base, synths and autotuned screams. Renditions of ‘We Could Be Heroes’ (the track is only available on SoundCloud, harking back to the artist’s beginnings) and ‘Teenage Soldier’ are quietly thoughtful. 2hollis even brings a black-hooded, acoustic guitar-bearing figure on stage to accompany him during ‘Eldest Child’.
The criticism of Gen Z not knowing how to be at a gig feels wrongly accusatory here. Girls hold hands behind me, swaying to the music. At one point, 2hollis stands centre stage, singing into the mic with the prowess of an old rock god. The upper balcony shakes beneath stamping feet. And then, 2hollis switches back to ethereal frenzy mode: topless, blonde hair swinging behind him during the six encores of his 2023 breakout track, ‘Jeans’. Each time he stops, the audience cries out for more. He plays it again, and this continues until his crew joins him on stage, overturning the giant tiger in what feels like a hilarious metaphor of what his music is: a new age of pop — counterculture as the culture.
- WriterHattie Birchinall
