Rilo Kiley at the Roundhouse

Rilo Kiley

Matthew Caws 

Roundhouse, 2 June 2026

It's been almost 20 years since I last saw Rilo Kiley live and what a joy it was to finally seen them reunited again at the Roundhouse in London. It was definitely worth braving the train strikes and the heavy rain. Jenny Lewis and her band were honestly like a ray of sunshine and brought back so many good memories as they played pretty much all my favourites from their back catalogue, and I'm happy to say, they are even better than ever.

It was a huge surprise when Rilo Kiley announced they were reuniting last year and embarked on a US tour. For those of us on this side of the pond though it was easy to feel envious as the shows looked like fantastic celebrations of the band's legacy and they all looked like they were having a ball. I know I was anxiously hoping they would play some dates in the UK, especially when they were added to some European festivals, and we all finally got our wish when they announced this show at the Roundhouse.  Not surprisingly it sold out straight away and they announced an additional date at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, which of course I pounced on too, as they said these shows would be their only UK dates (and their only headline shows in Europe).

It is crazy how in the 19 years since they broke up how popular they have become and the influence they still have on younger artists, so while the last time I saw them play in London they were playing a tiny venue, this time they were able to sell out the legendary and fairly big Roundhouse in just minutes. It just goes to show that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. It helps too if you have a back catalogue as good as Rilo Kiley's though and a frontwoman as magnetic as Jenny Lewis, whose solo career has been just as cool and interesting.

I had so much excitement to finally see Rilo Kiley again that I didn't even let the train strikes scheduled for that day deter me and, even though I set out super early for the show, I did indeed have a nightmare journey up to the venue and then had to endure waiting in the queue while it poured with rain. It will be worth it, I kept telling myself, and indeed it was.

I was also looking forward to seeing the support act, Matthew Caws, the frontman of Nada Surf, but who I best know as being half of Minor Alps with Juliana Hatfield, who I saw live a couple of times back in 2014. Caws sweetly and shyly crept onto the stage with barely anyone noticing him, taking up his acoustic guitar and giving a huge grin. With his impressive crown on white hair, he launches into the yearning indie ballad Inside Of Love, Caws' voice ringing pure and clear throughout the Roundhouse, despite being just a lone figure on the stage.  

He then tells us a story about how he nearly flood his house after running a bath for his wife and getting distracted by doing other things. It inspired his next song, the power pop In Front Of Me Now, about concentrating on one thing at a time, which he came up with the lyrics while driving! 

He also played a Magnetic Fields cover, Strange Powers, turning it into a cool, folky number and a Nada Surf song called Friend Hospital, which despite being quite upbeat had quite a sad feel.

He also played a new song, I Only See You And Me, which he said was inspired by all the division in America right now,  which was actually quite witty and jaunty and had Caws singing, "all these great lands stretched together, between these seas, I only see you and me." 

The best moment of his set though came when he announced he was going to do a song by Minor Alps, "my band with Juliana Hatfield". For this one he turned on a backing beat and played over it, giving us the atmospheric Buried Plans. It was such a thrill to hear him play it and I'm happy to say I wasn't the only one who cheered when he mentioned Minor Alps! I think we definitely need another record from them.

There were other Nada Surf songs, Blizzard Of '77 and When I Was Young, but he ended his set on the super positive Always Love, with Caws pleading "always love, hate will get you everytime." It was a lovely final song and I must say he went down really well with the crowd, who gave him a lot of love and were silent throughout his set Caws looked so pleased at the reaction and he told us how Rilo Kiley supported Nada Surf on one of their first ever tours in 2001, so this was a really nice full circle moment playing with them again at the Roundhouse. 

It was finally time for Rilo Kiley to take to the stage and there was so much anticipation, you could feel the sold out crowd buzzing. Before they came on a roadie brought out a Modelo lager for Jenny Lewis (which she infamously always "blesses" on her Instagram stories) and, bizarrely a self-help book that looked like it was from the 1980s called How To Be A No Limit Person by Dr Wayne Dyer, which he placed by the table next to her microphone. It was then I realised I was actually standing in front of Lewis and I couldn't believe my luck.

The room went dark and the band walked on stage to huge cheers with Jenny Lewis naturally the last to take her place, picking up her bass guitar, and with a wave to the audience, they immediately launched into The Execution Of All Things. Lewis looked incredible, wearing a short pale lemon floral dress (the lights though made it look many different colours), and her trademark (for this tour anyway) white ankle socks and Mary Jane shoes. Blake Sennett, meanwhile, was giving off young Gary Oldman vibes with his black rimmed glasses, dark suit and his short yet floppy haircut. 

I couldn't see drummer Jason Boesel at all I'm afraid, but Harrison Whitford (their touring guitarist and Phoebe Bridgers bandmate) was just visible to me on the other side of the stage, while Pierre de Reeder looked good in front of all the bright lights right next to Lewis. I did assume that Lewis would be centre stage but rather nicely, that was democratically shared with Sennett. 

Lewis then ran to the other side of the stage and played keyboards on Spectacular Views (thankfully the rest of the night she was back on my side), her voice sounding better than ever, as she shook her hair side to side and Sennett let rip on his guitar and everyone joining in on the "it's so fucking beautiful" line. The high energy song descended into a couple of minutes of weird noises and feedback with Lewis talking through some kind of small megaphone.

What was so infectious about it all was just how much fun the band seemed to be having and just how well they seemed to getting on. They constantly smiled and laughed, each of the members appearing to have little moments with each other: they was just a joyful, happy atmosphere that paired with the audience's pure delight at seeing the band back together, just gave the whole place a jubilant feeling. 

There were so many wonderful moments, with the set pretty evenly divided between the last three albums and their debut, Take Offs And Landings, only getting one song, Pictures Of Success, in the encore. I thought the choice of tracks was perfect, in fact I think they played pretty much all my favourites.

One of the highlights was hearing Dreamworld from Under The Blacklight live. Although I've always been a Jenny Lewis girl, this song by Sennett was maybe my most played song of 2007. When it came out I think myself and every Fleetwood Mac fan, loved the big Lindsey Buckingham vibe it had, and hearing it again after all these years I still got those same chills.

I think nearly every song had Lewis playing a different instrument, whether it was the cowbell on the poppy, danceable Breakin' Up, the keyboards again on the 60s girl-group style ballad I Never, bass on the funky The Moneymaker or guitar on the show closer Portions For Foxes, which ended with the whole band going crazy and Lewis even shredding on her guitar as she played the noisy guitar solo at the end. It was beautiful.

Lewis also grabbed the mike and roamed the stage for many songs too, most notably on With Arms Outstretched which saw her stroll to the end of the stage and hold the microphone out to the crowd as she threw her head back with a huge smile while the crowd took over singing the song for her. Again another completely joyful moment. 

I loved hearing all the Under The Blacklight songs, which I know don't always get as much love as the older material, but to me songs like the stomping groove of Close Call and the huge California pop vibe of Silver Lining (like I can imagine Linda Ronstadt covering this one back in the 70s), gave me such a big thrill and took on new life live.

The best moments though did come from two older tracks, firstly the super catchy and smart It's A Hit,  a song that has lyrics that amazingly seem even more relevant today. It was written in the Bush era but the lines "any chimp can play human for a day, use his opposable thumbs to iron his uniform and run for office on election day, fancy himself a real decision maker and deploy more troops than salt shakers" could have easily have been written about Trump. Lewis letting loose as she sang "it's a holiday for hanging" at the end was a particular thrill.

And then there was A Better/Son Daughter, which started so quietly with its marching band style drums and Lewis' breathy vocals, and beautifully built into something much bigger wall of sound, the turning point coming when Lewis belts out "and sometimes when you're on, you're really fucking on!" with the whole crowd singing along to that line. This whole tour was named after that one line afterall!

The inevitable encore also had some stellar moments, with Lewis standing at the edge of the stage during With Arms Outstretched and holding the microphone out for a feel good singalong. Then there was the hugely fun Frug which featured stocky guitar tech Topher (who Sennett introduced as dancing being his true talent) joining Lewis on the dance moves mentioned in the song (and adding some breakdance moves of his own). By the way it turns out that while Lewis "cannot do the smurf", Topher sure can!

The final song of the night was Pictures Of Success, the band waiting to the end, along with the Frug of course, to go right back to the start. The end building as the band joined with Lewis to sing "I'm ready to go" and Lewis playing some kind of tape recorder through her guitar pick-ups before Sennett goes crazy on the guitar, Jenny Lewis walking up to him with a big smile on her face.

Before they leave the stage, Sennett puts his arm around Lewis and they have a small hug, smiling at each other, obviously reveling in the success of the show and the huge amount of good feeling in the air. I think it just made everyone happy to see Rilo Kiley able to reconcile and just take great joy in being together and performing all the wonderful songs they created.

It was a truly feel-good show and just full of joy throughout. I'm so glad I was there to join in all the fun!