What Is It Like to See Ezra Collective Live?

Femi Preaches From Behind the Drums

The bandleader is the drummer, and at some point in the night he stops playing, takes a mic and gives a speech. It is usually about joy versus happiness. At the O2 Institute Birmingham in late 2024 he told the room, "Whether you woke up feeling happy or sad this morning, one thing you can do is choose to feel joy... So, for the next six minutes, that's what we're gonna do" (Redbrick). At the Royal Albert Hall in November 2023 the speech ran long enough that The Spectator noted it never quite reached a conclusion, and at the BBC 6 Music Festival in Manchester in March 2025 he switched to youth clubs: "If you fix the foundation, suddenly the building can stand strong" (Northern Soul). Not everyone wants church. At the Barrowland Ballroom in November 2024, men behind one fan who wrote up the night on Substack heckled him to get on with the music, and at the Astra Kulturhaus in October 2024 a fan blogger watched the crowd's attention drift. At the Barrowland he simply finished the speech.

The Horns Won't Stay on Stage

Ogunjobi and Mollison treat the whole room as the stage. They opened from the balcony at the Eventim Apollo in February 2023 and again at the O2 Institute in 2024, then came down to join the band (Rhythm Passport; Redbrick). At the Albert Hall in Manchester in April 2023 they crowd-surfed into the middle of the floor to play "Welcome to My World" (The Mancunion). At OVO Arena Wembley in November 2024 the first notes of the night were Ogunjobi's trumpet from the middle of the arena floor, before strobes brought on the rest of the band (NW Londoner). If you're stuck at the back, there's a decent chance the band comes to you.

It's a Dance Floor, Even in a Concert Hall

Come expecting a jazz gig with polite applause after the solos and you'll be wrong within a song. One fan at the Barrowland saw people "jumping around and dancing like I've rarely seen before," and mini mosh circles opened across that sold-out ballroom (The Skinny). At the O2 Institute nobody held phones up because they were too busy dancing (Redbrick). Seated rooms don't change it: at the Sydney Opera House on May 31, 2025, the entire audience stood for the whole show, which the Music Hoarder blog called unusual for that building, and the normally seated upstairs at the Albert Hall in Manchester got up for "Victory Dance." Back in 2018 at KOKO, Clash described the floor as "a seething mesh of sweating limbs."

Covers From Fela Kuti to UK Garage

A cover is always coming, and it could be from anywhere. Fela Kuti is the constant: "Lady," "Zombie" and "Water No Get Enemy" have each turned up six to eight times on setlist.fm, and at the Astra Kulturhaus in October 2024 the Fela homage was the crowd's favourite moment. Sun Ra's "Space Is the Place" became Mollison's showcase, and at O2 Academy Bristol in February 2023 the crowd held up phone lights while the stage went dark for it (Epigram). Shanks & Bigfoot's UK garage tune "Sweet Like Chocolate" has been in sets since 2018. Angie Stone's "Wish I Didn't Miss You" landed at Wembley in 2024. At the Roundhouse launch in September 2026 the encore threw in "NUEVAYoL" and Jme's "Man Don't Care" with Jme on stage (setlist.fm).

Five Soloists, and the Keys Usually Steal It

Every member gets a solo. Joe Armon-Jones on keys is the one reviewers keep naming: "mad solos" on "Victory Dance" at the O2 Institute (Redbrick), the night's highlight for the Astra Kulturhaus blogger, a slow, calm solo right before the climax at the Opera House. TJ Koleoso never stands still, shuffling across the stage with his bass held high (Tim Edgeworth's write-up of the 6 Music Festival, 2025). Femi's drum solo was the high point of the Sydney Opera House night and of the Fringe by the Sea tent in North Berwick in August 2025.

Church or Carnival, and the Fun Some Find Forced

The comparison everyone reaches for is church. The Skinny left the Barrowland in 2024 "feeling like they've been to church. Or is it Carnival?" and called Femi the band's "unofficial pastor." At Glastonbury's West Holts stage in June 2023, Clash saw people in the crowd visibly moved, some in tears. There's a real dissent, though. The Spectator's Royal Albert Hall review found some passages drifting into bland jazz-funk and three guest ballads in a row stalling the night, and the Astra Kulturhaus blogger read the joy speech as self-congratulation.