Gideon Live at the Dome – London Finale of the UK 2026 Tour

Last week, across six loud and exciting nights Gideon brought their exclusive headline shows to the British towns and cities, lighting fire in hearts and minds of energetic metalcore & hardcore fans. They invited a couple of homegrown talents: Grove Street and Still in Love, with a third support flying all the way from New Zealand, a wild Xile. Upstairs at the Dome yet again turned into a two-step central, hosting the final date of this fun little tour.

Still In Love

Still In Love opened the evening yet for me personally it was an act I was looking forward to the most. Their debut album Recovery Language ended up in my Top 100 releases of 2025 list, and with countless opportunities to see them live that I shamelessly missed, the time finally arrived during a stacked evening. Their metallic hardcore really resonates, and their harrowing aura fills your heart and soul during the performance. That perfect mix of melodic guitars and fast tempos, paired with a clever use of screamo accents and harsh vocals exhaled out in despair, feeling all sore and gritty, puts you immediately in a slight meditative state. They stay clear from gimmicks, and their stage presence feels serious, grounded, and mature. Still in Love are not debutantes in the British hardcore scene, it’s a mash up of instrumentalists that played in the past in prolific bands (such as Bring Me The Horizon, Dead Swans, or Last Witness). They know exactly what they are doing so you can relax.

Xile

Xile are quite an explosive band with their mix of death metal and metalcore, the kind that makes you want to run around in circles, with your frown upside down. You know exactly what I mean if you’ve ever been to a death metal show. I think they are a fantastic band for anyone wanting to cross over into this classic genre of metal, yet still feel slightly intimidated by it’s violence. Seeing so many young people in the crowd was beautiful, especially during their set as they finally let go and allowed the music to shake them up a little bit. The concerned parents watching their offspring go slightly batshit crazy in front of the stage was priceless. Xile for sure breathed fire into everyone who chose to spend their Saturday at the Dome. The guttural screams almost rage-baited us into becoming slightly unhinged in aid of the powerful bursts of drumming and chunky riffs.

Grove Street

Grove Street are a UK metallic hardcore staple. When you see their name on a poster, you know you’re going to have a grand time in the moshpit. Their sound is textured, layered, and chunky, pulling in some of the coolest influences of 80s/90s hardcore and thrash and throwing it all into a blender. All you can do with this is just surrender. That mash-up makes everyone exercise violence in the pit. Divers materialized in an instant, the heat turned up to max, with flying limbs punching the air. The smiles on everyone’s faces were contagious, almost maniacal, but don’t fret, this is normal. Just move out of the way if you don’t want to get hit. Their vocalist downed every beer put in front of his face by fans, gulping the liquid in haste, almost greedily, pint after pint. Band on stage is outrageously fun, constantly interacting with the fans, making everyone feel that extra special.

Gideon

Gideon and their Southern-style Americanisms are filled with excess. From the very beginning of their set, we were sound-blasted by loud riffs that at points felt like they were about to engrave themselves permanently into our ears. The whole night felt like waiting for water to boil, and finally, with the closing headlining act, it spilled out of the pot everywhere, bursting, making you swear a little, burning your hands slightly bit but enjoying that pain. People clearly craved their metalcore, and alas, they were here and not at the Jinjer show a couple of tube stops down the Northern Line. The mentality of “more and bigger” was contagious, reflected in the way some of the heavy music nerds behaved in the pit. Rocking a cowboy hat, their frontman herded this unruly gang of maniacs. Gideon brought together some of the coolest bands on this tour with them, making it an unforgettable night for everyone who bought a ticket and left the stage leaving us shell shocked. Till the next one!