The drum solo is slow at first - then raw, thunderous, explosive. Yoyoka Soma, 15, is improvising. Downstairs at the Dome in Tufnel Park, a lowkey London venue, she and a global lineup of girls with an average age of 14 are blowing the roof off.
By the time the last cymbal crash fades at Yoyoka’s first London concert, my mourning for the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, who died days before this show, has flipped to pure adrenaline. I’ve seen the future of metal.
Yoyoka opens with a nod to Ozzy, stepping softly on stage to a playback of Black Sabbath’s Changes - a moment of quiet respect before unleashing two and a half hours of genre-bending, brain-melting music. This isn’t just a gig. It is a statement. Metal is borderless. Metal is female. Metal is young, loud, and on fire.
And she isn’t doing it alone. In a show that feels more like a summit of future legends than a solo set, Yoyoka has invited a handpicked lineup of young global talent to join her - no flashy PR, just raw skill and wild chemistry. Her 12-year-old brother Shido is there, trading licks like it’s second nature. Her parents join in. But it is the teen girls she brings with her who steal the spotlight.
Enter 15-year-old Nandi Bushell yes, that Nandi, the British drum phenom who once traded thunder with Dave Grohl. This time, she walks out with a saxophone. “First time playing this live,” she smiles.
Then comes Gibraltar-based Aanika Pai, a 12-year-old shredder from India with the fingers of a wizard and the soul of a veteran. You may have caught Yoyoka in that viral video with Jack Black recreating Ozzy’s iconic performance of Mr Crowley - well, Aanika is the secret weapon in this show’s version. Yoyoka, Aanika, and the rest of the musicians on stage deliver a rendition of the song that doesn’t just pay homage - it gives it new life.
What makes it all even more unbelievable? No rehearsals. Just a soundcheck. Yoyoka tells me that she and Nandi have been in touch since 2018 but wanted to do something unique for the London show, and that she met Aanika in person for the first time at NAMM this January. “We played together in New York and Canada,” she says. “Had such a great time, we decided to team up again in London.”
This isn’t some manufactured industry stunt. It is a from-the-guts collaboration between kids with monster talent, mutual respect, and zero ego. Their chemistry is real. Their power undeniable. And they are bringing their own sound to the table.
If Yoyoka, Nandi, Aanika, and this new generation are at the helm, then metal is in the best hands possible.
