Don Toliver tears up at The O2 Arena

O2 Arena, London, 4 June 2025

Don Toliver’s Hardstone Psycho Tour has finally reached the UK. The Hardstone Psycho Tour, up to this point, has already gone viral online for its intense mosh pits, crazy crowds and insane set design. 

First, we were met with the opening act, Dr McDaniels. The DJ has garnered fame essentially overnight for his incredible opening set, upping the crowd’s energy levels for the main event. While I had stalked TikTok the night before, emotionally readying myself for the mosh pits, nothing could have prepared me for the crowd’s reaction to McDaniels. 

Dr McDaniels’ set is constantly high-energy, with hits like Ski Mask’s ‘Take a Step Back’ and Drake’s more recent ‘Nokia’. The crowd is taking any opportunity to mosh, going especially feral for any Travis Scott song and the classic ‘Mo Bamba’. At the end of his 45-minute opening, the crowd was suitably warmed up, mentally and physically – completely surrounded by ridiculously sweaty people. 

Don Toliver comes out earlier than expected, appearing suddenly in a metal cage while playing the piano. The crowd goes completely wild with fans thinking he was deviating from his typical setlist, before he begins playing the usual opener, ‘KRYPTONITE’. 

Fans are going completely crazy, screaming and moshing the whole time

As he hit the beat drop the whole atmosphere changed with fans jumping around and his whole band coming out. His guitarist, Spikes, deserves a notable mention for his incredible riffs and crowd engagement. He ends ‘KRYPTONITE’ with a minute long riff, blending it into the long-awaited ‘TORE UP’.

Coming into the concert, everyone knows what to expect with the fan-favourite ‘TORE UP’: perfect for mosh pits and screaming. It’s essentially Don Toliver’s version of ‘Fein’ but enhanced by an insane heavy-metal guitar running throughout the song.

Words cannot describe the effect ‘TORE UP’ has on the audience. Don Toliver already had flames bursting from the stage and smoke machines during ‘KYRPTONITE’, but he climbs on top of this and adds sparks flying off the sides to really intensify the whole experience. Fans are going completely crazy, screaming and moshing the whole time. 

Of course, he plays the classics too like ‘Cardigan’ and ‘4×4’, both loved by fans, giving a more relaxed change of pace from the intensity of the opening songs. The crowd’s energy never falters during these songs with Spikes’ continuous riffs and Don Toliver’s changing set design. 

Prior to the concert I had seen videos of him standing on a giant floating box, above the middle of the audience, but as his cage lifted off the stage and moved around, I still didn’t expect it. The cage moves back and forth above the audience throughout his set, but to be honest, it only benefits those who were seated. 

The fans are truly feral

While his crowd engagement is insane, there are moments where the crowd’s energy dimmed. Don Toliver completely disappears from view with his floating stage and a lot of the time his music is playing while he sings random lines every now and then. He is also recording clips for his newest music video, leaving many fans waiting for the next song to play. 

However, he quickly makes up for this by playing his unreleased song ‘Call Back’ and more from JACKBOYS 2. I personally can’t wait for the release of ‘Call Back’, having had it stuck in my head for the last week. 

Strong performances from the concert are during ‘FIELD TRIP’, which is always amazing but is made that much better from my front-row view and of course, ‘Too Many Nights’. The second round of ‘TORE UP’, as the penultimate song, may be even better than the first as Spikes continued the riffs, stretching the song to last for at least five minutes. My favourite has to be the iconic ‘BANDIT’. Fans debated whether he would play this in London, and Don Toliver himself told the crowd he felt obligated to fully deliver to such a passionate audience. 

‘BANDIT’, sampling Tame Impala’s famous ‘One More Hour’, is my absolute favourite from the rapper, and is clearly well-loved by fans from their reactions. If the first mosh pit in Dr McDaniels set was crazy, the one during ‘BANDIT’ was on a different level. I have never feared for my life in a concert until the moment we hear the signature opening chords. The fans are truly feral. 

The Psycho Tour was definitely an insane experience and truly worthwhile. Despite him rapping less than his last UK concert, Don Toliver’s crowd engagement was phenomenal, and his set design was fascinating to watch. The experience was only made better by Dr McDaniels’ opening set and Spikes’ skilled guitar performance. Here’s hoping we see them back in the UK soon.

★★★★