LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: DODIE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON 24/11/25
On November 24, the Roundhouse in London hosted the final sold-out night of Dodie’s tour supporting her sophomore album, NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING. The critically acclaimed artist, who rose from a bedroom YouTube producer to an international voice for bisexuality and mental health awareness, delivered a performance that was deeply personal, cinematically beautiful, and ultimately a joyous communal experience. The entire evening successfully conveyed the complex emotions, vulnerability, and quiet pride of the album, translating its intricate sonic tapestry perfectly to the live stage.
The night opened with aron!, who was completing his first-ever tour run and was overflowing with sincere gratitude. "Thanks for this experience," he told the crowd, expressing genuine amazement: "How did this happen? How am I here? I'm so grateful for this opportunity and for Dodie for having me."
aron!’s set was defined by his charismatic instruction and high audience engagement. He explicitly turned the gig into a participatory activity, starting with ‘cozy you’ by directing everyone into a finger snap rhythm. Later, during ‘eggs in the morning’, he coached the audience to stomp along to the beat. Before diving into ‘i think that i like you’, he had the crowd practice a rhythmic stomp and clapping part during his guitar swap and shared the song's straightforward genesis, highlighting the beauty in simplicity: "Sometimes the thoughts I have seem so complex, but when I write them down, they're easy." The crowd also absolutely nailed the difficult sing-along part of ‘only you’, despite his playful warning of "good luck." He even introduced himself via a fun activity, writing his name on a blackboard on stage, which drew cheers. His response was perfectly timed “Are you cheering because I can spell my own name? Woo!”.
The performance of ‘clementine’ was hilariously “interrupted” by an organic moment of comedy when a fan proudly presented the fruit in the audience, making aron! almost speechless: "You brought a clementine just in case I had a song on the setlist called clementine? Cool..." He concluded his set with his biggest song to date, ‘table for two’, and ‘I told my mum about you’, sharing that his parents were in attendance all the way from North Carolina.
This honest, highly interactive set, filled with shared rhythms and spontaneous humour, served as the perfect, cosy, and warming welcome, gently preparing the audience for the journey ahead with Dodie.
Dodie took the stage, backed by a stellar band that contributed to the magical and fizzy soundscapes. The line-up included: Kat Newlon on cello (also played with Michael Kiwanuka and Yungblud), Nathan Cox on guitar (who also played with Bombay Bicycle Club and Fizz), aron! (changing between guitar and piano) and Ross Leslie Craib on drums, a long-time collaborator who utilised an intriguing setup featuring a mixture of standard drumsticks and percussion mallets, creating a unique percussive texture throughout the night. The musical arrangements, credit to both Dodie’s writing and the band’s execution, were sublime and inventive; every instrument stood out sonically, weaving counter melodies and harmonies that complemented the vocal line beautifully.
The deep connection Dodie maintains with the crowd - a clear nod to the direct, intimate rapport established during her early YouTube days – was spotted right away. Before the track ‘Not for lack of trying’, Dodie joked with the audience: "You're either here because you like crochet, you're mentally ill or gay," which was met with a massive roar of approval, prompting her simple confirmation: "See, I know my crowd." The emotional connection with her audience runs deeper than pop music, though; built over a decade of candid YouTube content, Dodie has shared her most profound struggles, from publicly navigating her sexuality and coming out journey to opening discussions about her mental health and depersonalisation disorder. Dodie has always been an icon of bi visibility and LGBTQ+ representation in the modern music scene. She took a moment to thank the audience, noting that her openness was a mutual relationship: she knows she has helped others with their sexuality, but them being there for her also helped her understand herself more and be herself throughout.
The stage itself featured a piano covered in moss and a small mushroom propped on top of it, creating a cozy, natural, and somewhat whimsical atmosphere. The mushrooms are part of a broader “nature emerging from the self” aesthetic that ties with the album’s exploration of mental health and self-discovery. The image of nature (mushrooms and flowers) emerging from her body is also a motif on her album cover, symbolising her optimism and growth, despite internal conflict and difficult emotions.
The cinematic set was also defined by lush natural soundscapes, mixed with a stunning and clever lighting design that matched, including projections and beautiful light refractions from a disco ball.
On stage, Dodie was a vibrant ball of positive energy throughout the whole show, often jumping around and waving at fans throughout the venue.
The set began with a snippet from ‘Arms Unfolding’ leading into ‘Hot Mess’. The atmosphere immediately became groove-driven with the arrival of one of the most popular singles, ‘I Feel Bad For You, Dave’ from her new album, a track also well received for its unique bossa nova-inspired production. The track is an intelligent, subtle mockery of toxic online masculinity, telling the evidently entitled man that he deserves sympathy for his tragic and embarrassing behaviour. Before launching into ‘Cool Girl’, she joked, "This is a song about suppressing feelings for men, boo" which elicited synchronised booing and laughter from the crowd.
The live arrangement during ‘Smart Girl’ was a highlight of the new album tracks. The song builds throughout the composition, and this was beautifully reflected in the live performance, with Dodie occasionally and comically striking random keys on the piano from time to time, creating a sonic crescendo with all the instruments that culminated in a deliberately chaotic and intense moment, accompanied by the lighting design. This dramatic effect perfectly reflected the song's themes of insecurity and chronic envy. This is a perfect example and masterclass of how to effectively utilise all live components, sounds, and visuals to represent the themes of a track successfully.
Dodie introduced ‘Someone Was Listening’ as a "song I wrote about a video game" referencing an impactful scene in Life is Strange. The song is a beautifully written response to a character in the game who sends a desperate message into the void, seeking connection. In hindsight, this song is incredibly ironic, considering the number of people who listened to her and the many she managed to connect with over the years. Before the emotional track “When”, Dodie offered a profound and emotional reflection on her growth: "I'm always thinking about time... one of the very first songs I've ever written is about time... I get to come back and sing it and listen to what she had to say, and it's very sad... The good thing about time is that it brings a lot of knowledge and a lot of growth, so ironically I get to sing this song with my 19-year-old self, listen to what she had to say and hold her through."
Of course, we couldn’t have a Dodie set without the anthem ‘She’ - utilising rainbow colors for “the gayest part of the set”. “This is a song about liking a woman back in school... and she still doesn't know yet" says Dodie, which got a crowd reaction. Speaking of crowd reaction, the most significant crowd reaction happened before the performance of ‘Human’ when Dodie referenced the early days on YouTube: “Let’s go back to 2016, when we weren’t sure if Dan & Phil were together.”
The main set concluded with a series of wholesome moments. Dodie paused the show to lead the entire crowd in singing Happy Birthday to her brother, Iain. The performance of ‘Lonely Bones’ was introduced as Dodie’s favourite part of the set: "This is where we get to swing and clap!" resulting in a magical, unified moment of sound and motion. ‘Monster’ turned the Roundhouse into a party when Dodie asked the crowd to get low to the beat and jump. She ended the main set with ‘Boys Like You’, which she introduced simply as: "This song is about fuck boys.”. Enough said.
Returning for the encore, Dodie sincerely thanked her team, humbly downplaying her role by saying, "All she does is wake up and sing," while crediting them entirely. The encore began with ‘Ready now’ (a song chosen by the audience over 'Sick of Losing Soulmates'), which Dodie explained was "a song about people pulling you out from the dark and I'm grateful to the people doing that around me". The final song was ‘Darling, Angel, Baby’, during which she brought out her friend, longtime collaborator, solo artist, and bandmate Greta Isaac (known for her acclaimed solo material and as a member of the indie-pop band Fizz) to join her. Their shared professional history, which includes Isaac previously supporting Dodie on tour, added a layer of warmth as they concluded the night with a song dedicated to their cat, "Mrs.’’
In a moment of liberated joy that has become a tour tradition, Dodie ended the night by waving at the crowd and performing a series of triumphant cartwheels across the stage, a physical expression of the freedom and pride she champions for herself and the queer community.
The final night of the EU/UK tour was a powerful testament to the genuine community Dodie has built over the years. Dodie successfully transformed the vulnerable honesty of her decade-long journey into a radiant, collaborative celebration of identity and growth. While this chapter closed in London, the magic is set to continue as the tour heads to the US and Canada in 2026. Dodie will begin the second leg of her NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING tour starting February 20th in Nashville, Tennessee, and continuing through the spring.
20.02.26 – Nashville, TN
22.02.26 – Atlanta, GA
23.02.26 – Silver Spring, MD
25.02.26 – New York, NY
27.02.26 – Philadelphia, PA
01.03.26 – Boston, MA
03.03.26 – Toronto, ON
04.03.26 – Chicago, IL
05.03.26 – Minneapolis, MN
07.03.26 – Denver, CO
10.03.26 – Los Angeles , CA
11.03.26 – Oakland, CA
13.03.26 – Portland, OR
15.03.26 – Seattle, WA
Words by Vlad-Paul Ghilaș (Platform ‘96)
Photos by Florelle Servageon
Full setlist below:
1. Arms Unfolding (Snippet)
2. Hot Mess
3. I Feel Bad For You, Dave
4. The Answer
5. Cool Girl
6. Smart Girl
7. Hate Myself
8. I'M FINE
9. Someone Was Listening
10. Tall Kids
11. Not For Lack Of Trying
12. Now
13. When
14. She
15. Human
16. Guiltless
17. Lonely Bones
18. Monster
19. Boys Like You
20. Ready Now (Encore picked by audience)
21. Darling, Angel, Baby (Encore, With Greta Isaac)