Televisions flicker, keyboards slide and Venezuelan flags fly as Calva Louise deliver a full-blown spectacle to a rabid London crowd. For a three-piece, this feels a hell of a lot bigger.

Words by Felix Bartlett, photos by Sam Rockman (@rockersalmighty) | April 24, 2026

---

It’s one thing to come and conquer the Underworld. Plenty of bands have walked through these doors and done exactly that. It’s another thing entirely to make it your own, and tonight, Calva Louise do just that.

The stage is draped in televisions, flickering broadcasts and warped neon, pulling the sold out Camden crowd headfirst into the twisted, hyper-sensational world that Jess Allanic, Alizon Taho and Ben Parker have spent years building across albums, graphic novels and music videos. Before a single note is played, you already feel like you’ve stepped out of Camden and into something else entirely.

The trio waste no time proving why the hype around them is so well-earned. Opening on a charged run through the latest album ‘Edge of the Abyss’, they rip through ‘Tunnel Vision’ and ‘W.T.F.’ with the kind of confidence that usually takes bands a career to develop. Jess is grinning ear to ear throughout, clearly relishing every second as she delivers Latin lyrics on ‘El Umbral’ to a crowd who cheer like they’ve been waiting all year for this moment. Her sliding keyboard stand, handbuilt by Alizon out of wood and skateboard bearings, glides back and forth across the stage to make way for the heavy guitar breakdowns and feral screams that punctuate their set. For a three-piece, this feels a hell of a lot bigger.

That’s the magic of Calva Louise live. What reads on paper like a relatively stripped back setup is, in reality, a full-blown spectacle. Alizon layers techno beats and Prodigy-esque samples under Ben’s thunderous drumming, while Jess flips between guitar, vocals and keys with a fluidity that borders on ridiculous. ‘Under the Skin’ and ‘Hate in Me’ land with real weight tonight, each one tightening the grip they have on the room.

Between tracks, Jess takes a moment to thank the crowd and share the story behind the band; three people from Venezuela, France and New Zealand finding each other in the UK and chasing something bigger. It’s a genuinely moving moment in a set otherwise built for chaos, and it hits harder because of it. You can see fans nodding along, Venezuelan flags appearing near the barrier, the whole room fully invested.

‘Con Corazón’ is exactly what it says it is, played with heart and returned in kind. By the time ‘Oportunista’ closes the night, the Underworld is a sweat-drenched riot.

We need more international bands like this. Bands breaking boundaries, blending languages and genres, and offering something genuinely new and innovative. Calva Louise feel poised to take on the world, and on tonight’s evidence, the world doesn’t stand a chance.