LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: TRASH BOAT AT KOKO, LONDON 02/10/26
There may be nothing more feral than a Trash Boat fan that has been starved of the live experience of the St Albans quartet for a number of months. Camden’s iconic KOKO probably wasn't fully prepared for the cathartic carnage about to be released for the special tenth anniversary show.
Beauty School recognised the many Millennials in the room, with a challenge- “Let’s test out those knees” front man Joe Cabrera grinned.
The Yorkshire outfit opened the night with a set of dreamy Emo-Indie. Acknowledging the year (minus one day) anniversary of their debut album, they played the closing duo of ‘Cowboy Milk’ and title track 'From Now On’.
To a backdrop of a ‘Yorkshire’ chant, Beauty School bounced through their set with an underlying sense of fun and appreciation for their diehard fans that turned up to shout the hooks right back from all around the room.
Supplying the goods for those days one fans, Beauty School included ‘Pawn Shop Jewels’, a throwback track from 2022 album Happiness.
With the drum kit gradually sliding to the front of the stage, propelled by the energy of drummer Charlie Thomas. An attempt was made in vain to return the rhythm section to the back of the stage, but in the end, Beauty School embraced the chaos in its entirety and finished up their set to a thoroughly grateful KOKO.
Coming in hot with a killer duo of shrieks and guttural screams, Jessie Powell of Dream State led the Welsh metallers in a masterclass of heavy riffs that got the people undeniably hyped.
Dream State are the epitome of a band that have put in the man hours to earn their place on the stages they grace. Appearing on festival bills up and down the country, this, their second time in support of Trash Boat, felt utterly natural, the intensity of the two bands a seamless reflection despite the genre difference.
‘Chin Up Princess’, a perennial favourite, was where the room started to come undone, with circle pits, a wall of death and Powell launching herself into the melee.
“Remember it's Friday- don't forget to dance” was the introduction to ‘Primrose’, and dance Koko did, this Dream State set feeling like it was over all too soon, but with anticipation in the air for the spectacle that was to follow.
Nothing I Write You Can Change What You've Been Through, Trash Boat’s debut full length album, is- unbelievably- ten years old as of this summer and there was celebrating to be done as the St Albans powerhouse threw a monumental party in it's honor.
Tobi Duncan, the endlessly energetic frontman as he is, wasted no time- jumping into the crowd on the opening notes of ‘Strangers’ and was met with a barrage of crowd surfers that didn't abate an inch for the rest of the set.
With a full, chronological playthrough of the album from the top of the set, Duncan, along with the rest of the band- Dann Bostock and Ryan Hyslop on guitar duties, James Grayson on bass and Oakley Moffatt on drums, held space for their notoriously boisterous fanbase that surfed in constant waves over the barrier. Shout-out to Koko security that didn't fumble a single body and could be seen mopping their foreheads and chugging water between songs.
Through the album standouts like the aforementioned ‘Strangers’ and scream-along song ‘Tring Quarry’, lesser represented parts of the album had their time too.
“We’ll probably never play this song again” Duncan mused before ‘Second Wind’. This, the whole reason this show was so special to Trash Boat diehards- the chance to hear every song they may have been craving for a decade that had never made their way onto the band's setlists.
“Our-fucking-standing” Duncan grinned before launching into another song much requested online over the years- ‘Catharsis’. “Alright, fine, I get it, that was fun”, he admitted after the bouncy, summer coded track taking us into the latter part of the album.
After the closing notes of closer, ‘You Know, You Know, You Know’, the quartet wasn't done quite yet, starting the best of the rest section with ‘Inside Out’
3 EP’s and four albums deep Trash Boat certainly weren't short on options to cram into the second half of the set, with 2026 predominantly festival appearances only for the band, London was long overdue a dedicated and lengthier showcase.
Cluttered Sign, a song Duncan proclaimed to be a hard one to sing and Old Soul from 2018 album Crown Shyness continued the surf through essential plays for the band.
Promising a new album on the way and finishing up the set with ‘He’s So Good’- Duncan's raw take on his sexuality- “You interrupted my speech about being half gay” he winked at the rowdy crowd- Trash Boat weren't quite ready to call it a night yet.
As ‘Strangers’ rang out for a second time and Duncan buried himself deep in the crowd, Trash Boat left KOKO looking like a band at the top of their game, with so much more to come.
Words and photos by Imogen Bird.