Point-Blank Pop-Punk: As It Is Hit O2 Academy2 Oxford

By Alyssa | WhatsOn music and nightlife writer Alyssa tracks the gigs, festivals, club nights and late-late plans worth leaving the house for.

The pavement outside on Cowley Road vibrates before you even step through the venue doors. There’s a distinct, electric charge to a pop-punk queue—a sea of scuffed Vans, battle-jacket denim, and the kind of buzzing anticipation that only comes when a beloved touring band scales down to play an intimately chaotic room. As September’s freshers' week energy spills out of the surrounding pubs and late-night takeaways, the bassline from the soundcheck thuds through the brickwork, setting the tone for a night where the barrier between the stage and the floor is purely a suggestion. You can almost smell the spilled pints, fog machine juice and adrenaline from the street.

This is exactly the unrelenting energy As It Is are bringing to Oxford as they tear through their self-titled album tour. It is a massive coup for the city's alternative scene to catch the Brighton-born heavyweights in such a raw setting. Playing the upstairs, compact Academy2 room rather than a cavernous main hall means one thing: an unapologetic, high-octane assault of nostalgic anthems and blistering new cuts, all delivered at point-blank range. This is pop-punk the way it was originally designed to be experienced—sweaty, loud, incredibly fast and entirely uncompromising.

Blistering Riffs and Point-Blank Energy

When the house lights cut out, the physical surge of the room is instantaneous. Expect frantic down-picking, soaring vocal hooks that threaten to blow the venue’s notoriously punchy PA system, and the kind of relentless tempo that keeps the pit swirling from the opening track to the final encore. This isn't a gig where you stand at the back with your arms folded while checking your phone; it’s a full-contact, vocal-cord-shredding workout.

The band’s self-titled era leans heavily into raw, unfiltered emotion, and hearing those tracks reverberate off the low, dark ceiling of the Academy2 amplifies every single drop of that intensity. The energy doesn't just stay on the stage; it rebounds off the black-painted walls. Every snare hit and thunderous drum fill reverberates right in your chest. The beauty of this specific room is the absolute lack of pretense—the air gets thick, the floor gets slick, and the shared catharsis of hundreds of voices screaming the exact same chorus is absolutely deafening.

A Collision of Elder Emos and Fresh Blood

You can always gauge the health of a city's live music ecosystem by the people standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the dark, and this gig provides a perfect cross-section of Oxford's alternative community. You’ve got the diehards who have been fiercely loyal since the band’s early Never Happy, Ever After days, trading tour stories and clutching limited-edition vinyl by the merch stand. Then there's the freshers' week influx—newly arrived students plunging headfirst into their new local scene.

The camaraderie is instant and infectious. It’s the kind of crowd that will immediately pick you up the second you slip in the mosh pit, share their water, and then scream the bridge of the next song right back into your face. When the final chord rings out and the house lights snap back on, the exodus onto Cowley Road is a spectacle in itself. Fans spill out onto the pavement, grabbing late-night chips from the neon-lit takeaways, ears ringing but spirits completely soaring. Everyone shares the same exhausted, exhilarated grin.

Know Before You Go

• Early doors: With an 18:30 kick-off, the schedule is incredibly tight. Get down early to secure a decent spot and catch the support acts—pop-punk bills are notorious for front-loading serious up-and-coming talent.
• Dress to sweat: The upstairs room gets famously, gloriously hot once the bodies start moving. Check your heavy layers into the cloakroom immediately upon entry to save yourself mid-set.
• Protect your hearing: It’s a compact, concrete-heavy space with a soundsystem built for sheer volume. Bring high-fidelity earplugs to save your ears without losing the clarity of the mix.
• Ticket warning: Because this is the smaller secondary room, capacity is strictly capped. Tickets are flying among the student population, so this is a "book ahead" situation rather than risking it on the door.

Make a Weekend of It

Whether you're a local checking out the gig or travelling in to catch the band at the O2 Academy, Oxford, you'll want to build a proper night around it. If you are meeting friends in the city centre beforehand, grab a booth at the St Aldates Tavern. It is a brilliant Victorian free house right by Carfax Tower, pouring an excellent rotating cast of local CAMRA-approved ales and serving up proper homemade pub grub to line your stomach.

Once you head east towards the venue, keep the momentum going at The Bullingdon. Just a few doors down from the gig, this legendary independent arts hub is the ultimate spot for a pre-show drink in its own intimately dark, concrete-chamber bar.

If you are making a full night of it and need a crash pad that won't blow your gig budget, book a room at the easyHotel Oxford up in Summertown. It is clean, air-conditioned, incredibly convenient, and just a quick cab ride away from the Cowley Road chaos.

The next morning, shake off the post-gig ringing in your ears by heading to The Jericho on Walton Street. Their relaxed, bohemian vibe, stripped wooden floors, and serious Sunday roasts are exactly what you need to piece yourself back together over a Bloody Mary before heading home.

See you in the pit, Alyssa for What's On Oxford.