By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Wednesday 28 January, tour returns to Mighty Hoopla 30 May 2026

Setlist: 24 Hours; Here Comes The Night; Milk; Trigger; Ego; Balenciaga Covered Eyes; Fingers Crossed; Love And Appreication; Release Me

Scandipop appears to be having a moment in the UK currently with Zara Larsson’s Lush Life in the top 10, A-Teens returning to Melodifestivalen with something special and the release of the 1st great album of the year, Beautiful Madness by Agnes.

• Read on for reasons including how to see Agnes live in London this summer

The Swedish pop star won our 2021 Best Song monsta for Here Comes The Night, Beautiful Madness is our album of the month and we’re beyond excited to be joining 1,500 other fans in this historic and sold-out venue to see Agnes for the 1st time live and just days after her new album launch.

Agnes has had an unusual career, winning the Swedish Idol 2005 TV talent show, signing to Sony and leaving for an independent before the release of 3rd album Dance Love Pop which included Release Me, a number 3 hit in the UK.

Her career has followed a similar trajectory to fellow Swede Robyn, who has an album out in March, in that she’s a strong live performer who’s moved from having pop hits to enjoying a greater say in writing darker, acclaimed, more dancefloor-based work.

Tonight’s 50-minute set hones in on the singles from Beautiful Madness with the 90 per cent gay male crowd particularly enjoying the frenetic beats of the Daft Punk-esque Milk near the top of the set.

KOKO is so crowded that we don’t have a brilliant view from the rafters up in the top of the venue which is why the main picture in this piece is from a similar Stockholm gig on Saturday night in Berns.

But it does mean we have plenty of room to dance which is just as well because the set focuses on the disco element of her work and includes tracks from previous 2021 album Magic Still Exists also.

There’s even a band, backing vocalists and dancers and this material really benefits from a full live incarnation with the soul in particular of the gospel-ish Love And Appreciation and Motown-y Fingers Crossed absolutely soaring as they fly effortlessly to reach our ears on a lofty balcony in this intimate setting.

It was the product placement of Balenciaga Covered Eyes that initially put us off it but it is in this setting, with a live band, a full-throated star, enthusiastic crowd and banging house anthem that its actual brilliance is finally revealed to us.

Agnes doesn’t play Lovesongs, the stroke of genius from Beautiful Madness, and we wonder whether she’s saving it for Mighty Hoopla (ticket link below) in London this summer because it will require some bravery to pull off live what is possibly the greatest anthem Agnes has ever written.

A sense of our slightly restricted view above which did limit our enjoyment of this gig but it was astonishing to see Agnes for the 1st time ever live, playing a headline set and she was so good that we don’t expect it to be our last.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Agnes live in Stockholm in January. Minor picture from London by Aline Tickets
• Have you seen an Agnes show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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