Ten years ago, Japanese bands didn’t headline The O2. On October 15th, ONE OK ROCK became the third to do it in 2025 alone.
It’s been a fast-changing year for Japanese artists in the UK. BABYMETAL headlined the arena in April. Ado sold it out in July. Now, ONE OK ROCK returned to London with their largest UK production to date, taking the DETOX tour to The O2 Arena’s 20,000 capacity hall. It was a follow-up to their sold-out Wembley Arena debut the year prior, a high bar to clear, but not one the Tokyo-based four-piece seemed intimidated by.
But before the headliners took the stage, it was Paledusk who landed the opening blow. The Fukuoka outfit walked out to the sound of sirens and the familiar beat of Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’, a massive Adidas Trefoil logo behind them on the LED screens. Guitarist DAIDAI, shirtless, in yellow tartan trousers, hit the platform with a smirk and glittering blue guitar, thrashing through riffs as he span kicked across the stage. From the jump, it felt like a punk infiltration of a pop institution. Two years on from their UK debut at The Underworld, Paledusk now found themselves on the stage of the country’s third-largest arena, and wasted no time turning it into a pit.
“Please don’t be shy, lose your fucking mind, this is your show, this is our show, are you fucking ready? Show me what you got!” shouted frontman Kaito, as he launched the crowd into the metal jazz mash-up ‘SLAY!!’ with the kind of conviction you’d expect from a headliner. Kaito leapt into the crowd, screamed himself hoarse, and still managed to deliver a heartfelt monologue about the band’s ten-year journey. “This is crazy”, he said, pausing for breath. “We finally made it here. I hope this last song becomes a treasure for you guys”.
The opening theme to Kei Urana’s anime Gachiakuta, ‘HUGs’ is Paledusk’s latest tempo-shifting, emotionally exposed burst of hardcore, metalcore, glitch, and djent, collapsing into Kaito’s final cry of “dakishimete” (“hold me tight”). He held his arms outstretched before hugging himself beneath the lights as the set came to a close, ending what was easily one of the most experimental and exciting opening sets The O2 has seen in recent years.
As the lights dropped, a surreal animated sequence filled The O2’s screens, narrated by a disembodied voice recounting the rise of an AI god. In a world overrun by disease, fungi, and societal decay, humanity escaped into a virtual space, where belief in a fabricated deity offered temporary peace before collapsing into commercialisation and apathy. “People lost the ability to think”, the voice warned. Music, the narration declared, speaks to the soul, and with that, the band emerged to begin detoxing a poisoned world. With that, ONE OK ROCK opened the set with ‘Puppets Can’t Control You’, and the crowd came alive.
Their 2012 single ‘The Beginning’ followed, a fan favourite turned anthem over the decade, and one of the tracks that helped take the band global. ‘Save Yourself’ arrived next, Taka’s vocals commanding the crowd as phone torches began to dot the crowd. But it was the new album opener ‘NASTY’, complete with pelvic thrusts and full rockstar vibes, that earned the biggest reaction in the early set.
The DETOX intro, part sci-fi monologue, part warning broadcast, set a darker tone than previous UK shows, though the rest of the night shifted away from the grand, slightly on-the-nose concept and toward a genuine connection between band and fans.
Being the DETOX tour, the band leaned heavily into material from the new record, though tracks like ‘Renegades’ and ‘Stand Out Fit In’ ensured casual fans weren’t left behind. Taka, never shy with a mic, took several mid-set detours into speech, touching on the chaos of modern life, the political themes of ‘DETOX’, and the need to exchange bad vibes for good ones. “This is a pretty strong political album”, he admitted. “Some people don’t like it. But I have to say something in this fucking chaos world right now”.
Still, this wasn’t a lecture disguised as a show. The band knew when to back off the message and let the music speak. ‘Tiny Pieces’ turned The O2 into a sea of phone lights, while ‘Make It Out Alive’ invited circle pits on the floor. A mid-set interlude gave the instrumentalists their moment: Toru, Ryota, and Tomoya each taking short solos in a clear reminder that this is more than just Taka’s vehicle.
One of the night’s most anticipated moments became one of its highlights, as Paledusk’s Kaito and DAIDAI joined ONE OK ROCK for their collab track ‘C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.’. With CHICO CARLITO off the bill, Toru took on the rap verse himself before trading riffs with DAIDAI, while Kaito and Taka matched each other’s manic energy across the stage. It stood out as both one of the show’s most natural exchanges and one of ONE OK ROCK’s heaviest performances, a look at the kind of cross-generational collaboration that rarely makes it to international stages.
Despite the fan reaction across the night, The O2 wasn’t quite full. At showtime, the upper tiers remained curtained off, with empty patches around the arena. It’s hard to say whether ONE OK ROCK’s increasingly regular visits to the UK have dulled the novelty or if ‘DETOX’ simply hasn’t had the same pull. But the band seemed unfazed. “It didn’t sell out this time”, Taka acknowledged during the final third. “But next time, it’s gonna be fucking sold out, I know it”.
Before closing, he paused to acknowledge fellow Japanese headliners Ado and BABYMETAL. “Ten years ago, Japanese artists never played outside Japan”, he said. “Now? Look”. The crowd answered with roars. When a fan threw up a custom ONE OK ROCK Union Jack flag from the front row, Taka caught it and raised it high as he launched into ‘Delusion:All’, wrapping it around himself before calling for a full-crowd crouch-jump combo.
By the time ‘The Pilot </3’ closed the main set, the AI overlord storyline felt like a distant memory, replaced by the kind of euphoric communion that’s become ONE OK ROCK’s trademark, the band and their fans celebrating a milestone while recognising the growing wave of Japanese artists now reaching stages once thought out of reach.
For the encore, ONE OK ROCK stepped back under dim lights to give a final shout-out to their fans with ‘+Matter’, their glistening radio rock anthem, before ‘We Are’ brought the night full circle. Thousands of voices joined Taka for the final chorus, arms raised as he stood centre stage. It was a simple but powerful finish, more about gratitude than grandeur, and the sense that ONE OK ROCK’s place on stages like this is no longer up for debate. The only question now is where they take it from here.
Photos by Charles Shepherd
RELATED: ONE OK ROCK live at Wembley Arena: A landmark night for Japanese rock with a special appearance by Ed Sheeran
ONE OK ROCK
DETOX
Release Date: 21/02/2025
Label: Fueled by Ramen
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music
CD: Amazon | CDJapan
Paledusk
PALEDUSK
Release Date: 26/11/2025
Label: A.S.A.B
CD: Pre-order
