The Academic at Shepherd’s Bush Empire

As the week came to an end, so did the UK leg of The Academic’s 2023 Sitting Pretty tour, which shares the title of their latest album. The final show took place at the packed (and beautiful, as always) Shepherds Bush Empire.

The Irish indie rock band appeared amidst mesmerising lights, opening with Pushing up Daisies off the new record, which sent the entire venue into a frenzy. The newest release marks the group’s second outing, following Tales from the Backseat, which debuted in 2018. The excitement about the freshly dropped new material was abundant, with plastic pint glasses flying, attendees climbing on shoulders and all lyrics being sung as loudly as possible.

With each riff Matthew Murtagh played on the guitar, combined with the beautiful vocals of frontman Craig Fitzgerald, the hum of Stephen Murtagh on the bass, and the rhythmic beat of Dean Gavin on the drums, every song sent waves of electricity through the room that were surely felt by every member of the audience. 

Though the band mainly played tracks from their most recent record, they also included fan favourites such as Mixtape 2003, Why Can’t We Be Friends? and the single released in 2020, Acting My Age. They announced that their performance of My Very Best (from Sitting Pretty) would be filmed in order to create an accompanying music video, which was a thrill for everyone and made for a super unique moment between the group and their fans. 

Before their encore, The Academic performed Different from their first album, and up went the hands in the crowd, the lyrics sung at maximum volume; the vibes were so immensely good. The atmosphere stayed high during the last three songs of the night: Right Where You Left Me and two of their most popular songs of the first album, Girlfriends and Bear Claws. The venue went wild. Everyone was on cloud nine as the night came to a close on a high note – along with the UK leg of the Sitting Pretty tour. 

Kirst Hubbard
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit The Academic’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Bear Claws here: